


snow after fire

by SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife (KnightOfRage)



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Humor, Dragons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Slow-ish burn, aka where i live
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightOfRage/pseuds/SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife
Summary: Sir Galo Thymos is the best knight in all of the Kingdom of Promepolis (he thinks so, at least). So it makes sense that King Kray would send him to hunt down the Mad Black Dragon who’s returned to terrorize the Kingdom once again.But when he meets Lio Fotia, the supposed Mad Black Dragon, it turns out that maybe things aren’t quite as simple as he thought.Or...Lio is a dragon, Galo is the knight sent to slay him, and things don’t happen quite the way that they’re supposed to.
Relationships: Burning Rescue Members & Galo Thymos, Burning Rescue Members & Lio Fotia, Kray Foresight & Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia & Gueira & Meis, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 29
Kudos: 212





	1. Galo Thymos - I

“Galo, you idiot, there’s a reason that no one ever makes it over the Scorched Mountains.”

“Well, _I’ve_ never tried before, have I?”

It’s probably bad, but sometimes when Aina is lecturing him Galo will...tune her out a little bit. He’s not ignoring her, exactly, but he already knows the things she’s going to say so he doesn’t actually have to pay attention. So instead of sticking around to listen to stuff he’s heard a bunch of times before, Galo forges on ahead.

“Galo!” Aina huffs. “Are you even listening?” He hears her start stomping after him.

He walks faster so he doesn’t have to answer right away.

“The snow is deep here!” She calls after him. “Be careful!”

“C’mon, Aina! King Kray gave me this Quest. Which means he believes that I can do it!” He grins. “No snow is going to stop Galo Thymos!”

“You’re ridiculous.” She says, but grudgingly follows him anyway, tromping through the thick layer of snow. “Ugh, you know I’d expect somewhere called the Scorched Mountains to be a little bit warmer.”

Galo agrees. The Scorched Mountains actually aren’t scorched at all. Mostly, they’re bare rock and dark pines and, right now, a lot of deep snow. Galo and Aina’s armor makes for slow going in it, but it’s not like they can leave it behind. They can’t exactly fight a dragon with no armor on.

“D’you think we’ll find the Mad Black Dragon today?” Galo asks, holding a snow-laden branch out of the way for Aina.

She ducks under it with a smile of thanks. “I hope we do...those clouds on the horizon look kind of ominous…”

Galo follows her gaze. She’s right, there’s a thick band of black and grey clouds rolling steadily closer. Ah, well. “It’ll take more than a little bad weather to put out my burning soul.”

She rolls her eyes, but doesn’t stop smiling. “Lead the way, then.”

Ignis told Galo not to go on this quest alone and, before he could even ask anyone, Aina volunteered to come along. Galo isn’t sure if it’s because she actually wants to be here or because she thought he would die on his own. Either way, he’s thankful.

The rest of the Border Rescue Squad are probably taking shelter at the camp near the foot of the mountains, probably much warmer and more comfortable than Galo and Aina are right now.

But Galo can’t worry about comfort. He has a Quest to finish!

He climbs over a rise and takes in the view. They’ve reached some cliffs, not terribly high but still probably too much to climb down easily. Past the cliffs is miles and miles of dark pine forest lightly dusted with snow. Galo takes in a deep breath of the chill air and smiles.

He’s always through that the air feels fresher outside of the magical barrier that protects Promepolis. He’s thankful for the Barrier that protects them and keeps them all safe and blah, blah, blah. But a man can breathe out here in the mountains!

He’s about to tell Aina that, to see if she agrees, when something makes the earth around them shake. Galo looks around, wondering if it’s an earthquake, when sees that the trees in the pine forest below them are snapping and roiling seemingly without any reason. But then something black and shiny and _huge_ emerges from the trees

It rises up and up and up and Galo gasps without meaning to. A dark shape, so big it seems to blot out the sun, is hanging over the trees now.

The Mad Black Dragon.

“Aina!” He shouts. “Get ready!”

“Right!” Aina is pulling out her daggers, face grim but determined.

Galo unsheathes his blade and takes a step towards the beast. It’s so much bigger than he thought, all dark scales and jagged edges. It’s close, barely a dozen yard from the two of them.

Galo exchanges a glance and a nod with Aina and then, without hesitating, he runs at the dragon. He doesn’t want to kill the beast, not without giving it a chance, but if he doesn’t act then everyone, all of Promepolis, will be at risk.

He covers the ground between them in a blink and, as the dragon rises past the cliffs, Galo leaps off and launches himself at the beast blade-first.

Everything happens too fast, after that. Galo registers his katana catching on something with a loud ripping noise, then he bites back a scream as a fire hits him and pain races up his right arm. He looks down, ready to try and roll to cushion his fall, but all he sees is a thick sea of dark green.

The dragon has pulled him out, out past the cliff and over the pine forest below. Galo tries to grasp on to the dragon for a moment, but the scales are slick and hot and his fingers are clumsy underneath his thick, armored gloves.

His hands slip and he plummets.

The wind snatches Aina’s scream away as Galo falls.

* * *

_“A Quest?”_

_Galo is bouncing on his heels in front of King Kray’s throne. He’s been a knight for almost six months now and finally - finally! - he is going to get a proper Quest. He feels like he’s been waiting for forever._

_“Calm down, Galo.” Sir Ignis puts a hand on his shoulder. Galo reluctantly stops bouncing. “Is Sir Galo truly being assigned a Quest, your Highness?”_

_“Yes.” The King nods, eyes hidden in the shadow cast by his large golden crown. “It is a vital matter than can only be handled by a knight I trust.”_

_Galo beams. “I won’t let you down!”_

_“Sir Galo has only been a knight for a short time, perhaps it would be better for a more experienced knight…” Ignis tries, but Kray cuts him off._

_“Sir Ignis?”_

_“Yes, your Highness?”_

_“Leave us.” Kray commands._

_Galo thinks he sees Ignis hesitate, but the King is the King. His word is law. So Ignis nods once and turns away, walking across the long throne room and finally out the double doors. Kray waits to speak until the doors close with a thud._

_“Galo.” He says. “As I said, I have a Quest of great importance for you.”_

_Galo does his best not to look too thrilled. He’s a knight now, after all, he needs to look serious and everything, but he’s so excited to get a Quest of Great Importance. He feels like his soul is on fire._

_“I’ll do anything!” Galo says and Kray smiles._

_“I knew I could depend on you, Galo.” He says. “Now, as for this Quest...have you heard the rumors of a black dragon in the Scorched Mountains?”_

_Galo nods. “I haven’t seen it, but Sir Varys said he saw it hovering around last week!” He had seemed spooked when he’d told the rest of the Border Rescue Squad about it, which was weird for him. Galo has known Varys since before he was a knight and he’d never seen him get scared._

_Kray looks grim. “Other knights have given the same report. It seems that, after long last, the Mad Black Dragon has returned.”_

_“The Mad Black Dragon, Sir?” Galo tilts his head to the side. He was young during the war with the dragons. It was back before he was a squire or anything. Mostly he cowered with his parents during attacks and, later, he cowered alone._

_“Ah, I forgot.” Kray says. “You’re too young to remember.” He sighs. “It seems like not that long ago, but I suppose it has been more than fifteen years…”_

_“Since what?” Galo asks._

_Kray sighs. “Many years ago, my younger brother was taken and presumably killed by a dragon.”_

_“The Lost Prince.” Galo says. “I do remember that.” He’s pretty sure the whole kingdom still remembers. Galo may not know much about the war, but he’s sure that he’ll never forget the Prince whose disappearance started the whole thing._

_“Yes.” Kray stands from his throne and walks to face one of the massive windows that line his throne room. His shadow is long. “We may have won the war and driven the dragons out, but,” His fist clenches, “We never found my brother.”_

_“Sir Kray…” Galo says. The King doesn’t correct him._

_“The dragon who took him, the Mad Black Dragon, has returned from wherever it was hiding.” He doesn’t turn away from the window to look at Galo. “The beast is hiding to the north in the Scorched Mountains.”_

_“I’ll find him!” Galo volunteers immediately, automatically. “I’ll fight the dragon and then find your brother, King Kray!”_

_“I knew you would understand, Galo.” Kray says. “That is why I have entrusted this Quest to you.”_

_“I promise on my burning soul!” Galo says, slapping his hand over his heart. It hits loud against his armor. “I’ll do it!”_

_“Find my brother.” Kray says. “Or, failing that, kill the dragon who took him.”_

_Galo stills. “Kill the dragon, King Kray?”_

_“If you cannot find the Prince.” Kray says grimly. “It’s high time we put this issue behind us. Once and for all.”_

_Galo hesitates for a moment, then nods. “I won’t let you down!”_

_Kray looks back at him over his shoulder, face cast in dramatic lines of light and dark._

_“Oh, Galo.” He says. “I know you won’t.”_

* * *

Galo wakes up.

Waking up is neat.

Galo assumed he would not be waking up. He mostly assumed that he would die when he was falling off that cliff.

“I’m alive!” He yells and tries to sit up before he notices three things in rapid succession:

  1. His arm is totally busted, covered in a nasty-looking burn from the dragon’s fire.
  2. Everything is pretty dark.
  3. The dragon that knocked him off the cliff is splayed out on the ground just a few feet from him, eyes wide and fixed on Galo.



The dragon is massive and jet black aside from three white horns protruding from its skull. It’s horrifying, like something Lucia would come up with as a spooky story to scare Remi. The eyes that are fixed on Galo glow a hundred different colors; blue and pink and green and a bunch more he doesn’t even have names for.

Galo does his best to claw his way into a sitting position with his uninjured arm. For a moment, he thinks that it’s already night, but then he notices the stone walls and the lack of snow. They’re in a cave, a pretty big one, and the only real light is coming from the dragon’s eyes.

There’s a lot of shadows, places to hide. Galo has no clue how he got here, but maybe he can get away. He gets to his feet, watching the dragon warily, and ignores the throbbing in his arm.

“Don’t eat me…” He chants quietly, almost like it can protect him. “Please don’t eat me…”

“Don’t be gross.” The dragon huffs. “Dragons don’t eat people.”

Well, apparently stealth isn’t gonna work. It’s fine. Galo’s never been any good at sneaking around anyway.

“Even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t stand a chance against my blade and my burning soul!” Galo proclaims, reaching for the sword he always keeps at his waist. But the sheath, colored bright red and blue after several loud requests to Lucia, is empty.

“Looking for your weapon?” The dragon lifts its chin up disdainfully, the motion weirdly human. “I burned it to bits.” It shifts a little and Galo catches sight of some vaguely familiar bits of twisted metal.

“My sword!” Galo races over and skids to a halt beside the scrap heap that used to be his sword. “No...it was real Japanese steel!” He wants to pick the pieces up and maybe, like, cradle them sorrowfully in his arms for a while, but they’re still smoking and a little bit glowy. Maybe he can cradle them later when they’re a little less liable to burn him.

“I couldn’t just let you keep it.” The dragon says. “You probably would have tried to stab me again.”

“Wait!” Galo hops up from his mournful crouch by his former sword and flings an accusing finger towards the dragon. “You! You talked! You’re talking!”

The dragon blinks once. “You just now noticed that? I’ve been talking for, like, five minutes.”

“It’s not my fault for not noticing, my head hurts and you _melted my katana_!” Galo continues to jab his finger towards the dragon. “You’ll pay for that!”

“Ka...tana?” The dragon slowly repeats the word with a curious tilt to its head. “I thought it was a sword.”

Galo folds his arms, wincing a little at the pain from his burn. “A katana is so much more than an ordinary sword! Made from the finest steel from a land across the sea...nothing cuts better or sharper!” The dragon does not look convinced. “This would be so much easier if I had my visual aids! Lucia drew a bunch of pictures for me, if I had them…”

“I don’t get it.” The dragon says. “It just felt like a normal sword to me.”

“How would you know?” Galo demands.

The dragon extends a wing and Galo can’t help but let out a gasp. The wing membranes, stretched tight like fabric on a loom, glow. They’re lit up with the same multicolored fire as the dragon’s eyes and suddenly Galo can see every nook and cranny of the cave.

“You stabbed me.” The dragon says and flutters the wing for emphasis. Galo sees a rent in the bright colors, a foot or so long and bloodless.

“Well, you were trying to eat me!” Galo says even though he feels a little bit bad now.

“I already told you.” The dragon glowers and it looks properly frightening now, all hot eyes and sharp teeth. “I would never eat someone.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that, Mister Mad Black Dragon?” Galo says. “You sure looked like you were going to eat me.”

“Call me Lio.” The dragon, well, Lio apparently, says. “Not Mister, what was it...Black Dragon?”

“Mad Black Dragon.” Galo corrects. “That’s what everyone calls you.”

Lio growls. “That’s so stupid. My name is Lio. Lio Fotia.”

“Then you call me Galo!” Galo says. “Galo Thymos!”

The dragon’s eyes narrow. “Galo Thymos, hm?” His voice is so low and rumbly that Galo feels it all the way down to his toes.

“Sir Galo Thymos!” He says, striking his most knightly pose. “Knight of Promepolis!”

Lio’s lip curls. “Promepolis, huh?”

“You’ve heard of it?” Galo asks.

“Of course I’ve heard of that vile place.” Lio’s voice is a snarl. “And its vile ruler.”

“Hey!” Galo straightens up. “Don’t you dare badmouth Sir Kray like that!”

Lio rounds on him and Galo is suddenly very close to a lot of very sharp teeth. “He has killed scores of my people.” Galo can feel the heat of fire behind those white teeth. “I’ll say whatever I want about him.”

“You didn’t give him a choice! You killed his brother!” Galo says, even though some of those teeth are as long as his arm. He won’t let anyone talk bad about Sir Kray! “The Mad Black Dragon stole the Prince and he never came back!”

Lio opens his mouth wide and for a minute Galo thinks that Lio is actually gonna eat him or burn him to a crisp. But instead he snaps his jaws shut, with a noise that makes Galo’s knees a little bit wobbly.

“Idiot.” Lio says. “We dragons _never_ kill without reason. Not even Princes.” He turns away from Galo as well as he can in the confined space of the cave and settles down into a crouch, pulling his still partially-extended wing back in. The cave goes dark again.

For a while, it’s quiet aside from the wind howling outside the cave. It’s sounds fierce and, even from his spot in the cave near a very warm dragon and the smoking remains of his sword, Galo can feel the bite of the cold.

Lio lets out a little sigh and a cloud of smoke rises to the ceiling.

Galo wonders if he’s a prisoner. Would Lio try to stop him if he wanted to leave? Galo doesn’t have his sword, so he probably can’t win against Lio. Lio is, after all, a lot bigger than Galo and also can breathe fire.

But, well, Galo has to try. Aina is probably still out there somewhere along with the rest of his team. And there’s still the matter of his Quest…

He stands, brushing the dirt off his armor, and prepares to head out.

“Where are you going?” Lio’s eyes are slits of bright fire in the dark.

“To find my friends!”

“The storm outside is bad.” Lio says. “And it’s going to get worse.” He adjusts himself, resting his wide head on his front feet. “We’re in for a day of it, maybe more. Get comfortable, Galo Thymos.”

“I...what?” Galo wrinkles his nose. “I can’t just stay here!”

“Feel free to leave.” Lio’s voice is dismissive. “You’ll just die out there in the snow.”

“I need to find my team.” Galo insists because what if they’re still out there in the snow, looking for him? If Aina or Ignis or any of the others are injured because of his mistake, he’ll never be able to forgive himself.

“If they’re not stupid, they’ll be able to get to shelter.” Lio’s eyes are closed now. The cave is darker without their glow. “If they’re anything like you, though…”

“Hey!” He protests, but Lio doesn’t open his eyes.

Galo huffs out a loud sigh before dropping to the ground and folding his legs, thinking about what to do next. It’s easier to just do things most of the time without bothering to think too much, but he can tell how bad the weather is outside. With the way the wind is blowing the snow around, he won’t be able to see even a foot in front of him.

There’s no way he’d find the rest of the team out there.

Ignis is smart, way smarter than Galo. He wouldn’t let anyone get hurt. He’ll have gotten them all to shelter. They’ll be okay. Galo has to believe that.

“Ugh.” He groans and flops onto the cave floor. It looks like his only choice is to stay in this cave with a very big and kinda pissy dragon, at least until the storm is over.

For a long time, the only sound is the howl of the wind outside the mouth of the cave. Galo thinks that Lio might be asleep. But then, he speaks.

“How’s your arm?”

Galo looks over at his arm. The burns are a bright, angry red against his skin and they throb in time with heartbeat. If Remi was here, he could fix them with a spell. If Vayrs was here, he’d dump a healing potion on them. If Aina was here, she’d tell him that this is what he gets for wearing armor without sleeves. But Galo is crap with magic, he gave all the healing potions to Aina, and he thinks his armor looks cool, so he just shrugs.

“Not too bad.” He says. “It’ll take more than this to stop me from completing my quest!”

Lio snorts. “What quest is that? The one where you kill me?”

Galo flips from his back to his stomach, ignoring how the movement jostles his arm uncomfortably, and scooches around to face Lio’s bulk. Lio’s face is turned towards the wall instead of Galo, but his eyes are open.

“I don’t want to kill anyone!” Galo says and it’s true. He’s been a knight for a while now, but he’s never even come close to killing someone. Mostly, him and the rest of his team chase bears and the occasional troll away from the border. Promepolis has been at peace for over a decade.

“So you were waving your sword at me to, what, welcome me to the neighborhood?” Lio says, but he doesn’t actually sound mad. More exasperated than anything else, a lot like Ignis when he tells Galo that soaking his blade in healing potions won’t actually prevent him from hurting people during spars.

“You tried to light me on fire!” Galo splutters. “Also, it’s not a sword, it’s a katana!”

“I only tried to light you on fire after you stabbed me with your _katana_!”

Which, okay, fair. “Sorry about that.” Galo says. “I won’t do it again.” Sure, Lio is a very big dragon, but he can talk and everything. Galo maybe should have tried to talk to him before jumping in balde-first.

To Galo, Lio looks almost uncomfortable after his apology. He can’t be sure though...it’s hard to read emotions on the face of a dragon. “So tell me, Galo Thymos.” His voice is low, deep. “If you aren’t going to kill me, how are you going to finish this Quest of yours?”

“Simple!” Galo says with a smile. “King Kray said I needed to kill the dragon or find the Lost Prince. So if you say you didn’t kill him, I guess all I have to do is find the Prince!”

“Uh huh.” Lio does not sound very enthused with his plan, which Galo thinks is lame of him. “And this Prince...how long ago was he lost?”

Galo thinks on it for a minute, tapping his chin. “Fifteen years ago?” He guesses. “No, wait, I think it was thirteen.” He points at Lio, trying to be less accusing this time. “Did you take him?”

“Did I kidnap a human prince fifteen or maybe thirteen years ago?” Lio rolls his eyes. “ No. I wasn’t even old enough to be flying alone back them.”

“How old are you?” Galo asks, suddenly curious. Lio looks really big to him, but maybe he’s still a baby dragon or something. Galo’s never seen one before, especially not this close.

“That’s not your business.” Lio says.

“Are you less than thirty?” Galo prods. “Twenty? Fifteen?”

“Human measurements of time are stupid.” Lio huffs. “But no, I’m not less than _fifteen_. Twenty either.”

“But you are less than thirty?” Galo asks. When Lio doesn’t answer, he grins. “Hey! You’re close to my age, then!”

Lio huffs. “Idiot.”

“Maybe.” Says Galo. “But this idiot is going to find the Lost Prince and complete his Quest!”

“That can wait until morning.” Lio says. “We should sleep. It’ll be storming outside for a while.”

And maybe it’s a bad idea, but Galo sleeps just fine in a cave in the middle of the mountains next to a dragon that he was sent to kill.

* * *

_“I’m sorry, Galo, but I’m afraid that as King I won’t have time to mentor you any longer.”_

_They’re in the barracks where the knights stay, where Galo has stayed as Sir Kray’s squire for the last three years. They’re empty aside from Kray and Galo, all of the other knights out at dinner down at the mess hall. Galo is sitting on his bed, Kray across from him in a straight-backed wooden chair._

_His face is unusually tired, lines heavier than usual. He looks a lot older today than he did yesterday._

_“Sir Kray!” Galo is doing a very bad job of holding back his tears. They’re already blurring his vision and threatening to fall._

_“Galo, you’re not supposed to call me that anymore, remember?” Kray reminds him. “Starting after the coronation tomorrow, I’ll be King Kray or Your Highness. Okay?”_

_Galo wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Okay.” He sniffs._

_He’s been serving Kray since right after he turned eleven. He’s been the best mentor Galo could ask for, patient and kind and so strong. He’s the strongest knight in the whole kingdom._

_“Your new mentor, Sir Ignis, is a great knight.” Kray assures him with a pat on the shoulder. “He serves on the border rescue squad, outside of the Barrier. Serving with him should be much more exciting than attending the same tournaments over and over with me.”_

_“Outside the Barrier?” Galo repeats. Like most citizens of the kingdom, he’s never left the walls. The Barrier that protects them has been up since the end of their war with the dragons, so long ago that Galo barely even remembers a time without it._

_“Yes.” Kray says. “It may be dangerous, but you’ll see things no one else in Promepolis can.”_

_Galo sniffs. “M-maybe will there be more samurai? Like that one who came to the tournament last year?”_

_Kray laughs. “You were quite taken with that fellow, weren’t you?” Galo nods a few times. “Perhaps, Galo. There is no telling what you might see.”_

_The man called a samurai was from a land far, far away across a vast sea. He had almost beaten Sir Kray in the tournament with his strange sword, no not a sword, his katana. The sight of it had lit Galo’s soul on fire. He desperately wants to learn how to wield one, someday._

_Kray always promised to teach him._

_But that will be Sir Ignis’s job now. Kray has more important things to do._

_He’s getting to his feet now, his massive bulk blotting out the sun from where it peeks between the draft rafters of the barracks. “I appreciate your understanding Galo. I trust that you will become a great knight, eager to serve the kingdom.”_

_Galo wipes away the last of his tears and does his best to smile. “I won’t let you down, Your Highness!”_

_Kray smiles, indulgent and rare. “I know you won’t.” He turns away and moves to leave, but Galo has one more thing he needs to ask._

_“Um...” Galo says. “Your father, how did...”_

_“I’m afraid it was grief that killed him in the end.” Kray says without looking back at Galo. “The death of my brother at the hands - ah, claws - of those filthy dragons. He never moved past it.”_

_“Did they...did they ever find his body, Sir Kray?” Galo asks even though maybe he shouldn’t._

_“No.” Kray says. “And remember Galo, I’m not Sir Kray anymore.”_

_He leaves Galo sitting on his bed. He doesn’t look back._

* * *

“ _Galo!”_

_“Galoooooo!”_

_“Where are you, you idiot?”_

Galo wakes up to sun in his eyes.

For a minute, he’s confused. But then he remembers the cave and the storm. It seems, though, that the snow has stopped and the storm has ended. Outside the mouth of the cave, everything is harsh white, sunlight reflecting off snow.

But he can hear something, distant shouting…

_“Galo! Can you hear us?”_

“My team!” Galo jumps to his feet. “The rest of the border protection squad! That has to be them!”

“Mmmm?” Lio opens a lazy eye. He seems even bigger with sunlight properly in the cave now. It gleams off his three sharp horns, his gleaming teeth and claws.

“My team!” Galo repeats giddily. “I can hear them calling for me! I think they’re just outside, I’m going to go and grab them and then we can…”

“Galo, wait.” Both of Lio’s eyes are open now. “If they come over here and see me, if they know I’m here, then they’ll attack me without a second thought. And I’ll have to defend myself.”

“You shouldn’t fight them!” Galo says, stumbling over the words a bit in his haste to get them all out as quick as possible. “They’re my friends!”

“I don’t want to fight them!” Lio snaps. “I don’t want to hurt anyone! I already told you, we dragons don’t attack or kill without reason!”

“I can go and explain it to them!” Galo says brightly. “As soon as they understand, everything will be fine.”

“I highly doubt that.” Lio says. “You may be kind of an idiot, but most humans wouldn’t even hesitate before attacking me.”

Galo frowns, but Lio’s got a point. He can’t imagine his team really believing him when he claims he’s managed to find a friendly dragon out here in the woods, especially after he was technically sent to kill one.

“I can’t just give up!” Galo says. “Let me go out and explain…”

“Ugh, dammit.” Lio shakes his head and moves to stand. He’s barely able to in the cave, his horns and wings brushing the ceiling. “Don’t bother...I know what I have to do, but I’ll need a minute. Go distract your friends.”

Galo doesn’t know what Lio means by that, but the yells are getting louder now and if he waits too long they might pass him by altogether. So instead of asking Lio more stuff, Galo just shrugs and leaves him in the cave.

He bounds out into the snow (nearly up to his thighs now, which isn’t ideal) and waves both of his arms over his head.

“Guys!” He shouts. “Hey! I’m over here!”

It takes a minute (and more shouting and some jumping up and down) but the other squad members hear his calls and shout back, trooping through the trees to find him.

“Galo!” Ignis is in the lead, his armor glinting dully in the morning light. “There you are.”

“Here I am!” Galo agrees. “Man, I’m so surprised you found me! It can’t have been easy after I fell off that cliff.”

“You really fell off a cliff?” Ignis says.

“It was a little one.” Galo says, pinching his thumb and forefinger together so they almost touch.

“And he’s got a hard head.” Aina says.

“Aina!” Galo grins. “You’re okay!”

She stops a few feet behind Ignis and gives him a tired and relieved kind of smile. Her armor is a big banged up, the chainmail scorched in places, but she’s still in one piece. Galo feels so much better.

“I’m fine, idiot.” She says. “ Good to see you lived through that.”

“I told you he was too stubborn to die.” Lucia says blithely. She’s perched on Varys shoulder, which is probably a smart move. She might just disappear under all the snow.

Varys himself grins. “Look at you, man! All in one piece.”

“I’m not sure how you are, though, what with the supposed cliff and the dragon.” Remi huffs. He’s a few steps behind Varys, his glasses fogged from the cold and his robes encrusted with snow.

“I had help!” Galo tells him. “Wait here for a minute, I’ll show you.”

He really hopes he gave Lio enough time to do...whatever it was he wanted to do. The team yells protests and questions after him, but Galo jogs back to the cave with a wave and a shout of “just wait out here, I’ll be right back!”

Galo stops when he steps into the cave and finds it empty.

His first thought is that Lio managed to escape without noticing. He’s a little bit disappointed, honestly, because he was sort of getting used to him. He sighs, and puts his hands on his hips. Maybe it’s for the best...Lio’s a dragon, there’s no way he could just come home with Galo and his team…

He hears a sigh and whirls around to see a slender figure, cast into sharp relief by the sun pouring into the cave now, adjusting its gloves. “Really,” It sighs, “That was all the time you could give me?”

“What?” Galo frowns. “Who are you?”

“Galo Thymos.” The figure steps forward, back into the shadows, and Galo can make it out. It’s a man, a human man with blond hair so pale it’s nearly white, standing where Galo left a dragon just a minute ago. “Don’t you recognize me?” His voice doesn’t rumble through Galo’s body quite the same, but it’s still deep and familiar. That’s Lio’s voice. This man is, somehow, the dragon who he’d had been trapped in a cave with.

It seems impossible. He’s just so...small. He’s clearly an adult, but he’s shorter than anyone on the border rescue squad, except maybe Lucia. His eyes are the same though. They’re just one color now - something between pink and purple - but they still burn.

His human disguise (or whatever it is) is rough around the edges. He still has two horns poking through his hair and some black spots on his neck and face that, when Galo looks closer, are obviously scales. Hopefully everyone else will just assume they’re dark freckles or something.

“How did you…” Galo gapes, but Lio shakes his head.

“Later.” He insists. “For now, just tell your friends you and I managed to slay the dragon together.”

“What?” Galo says. “I’m not going to lie to them about that!”

“You owe me.” Lio hisses. “You stabbed me.”

“And you lit me on fire!”

“This again…” Lio shakes his head. “Look. Just...go along with me for now, okay? I promise I’ll explain as soon as we’re inside the Kingdom.”

“Inside the Kingdom, Lio you can’t just…” Galo is, for reasons he can’t fully explain even to himself, starting to trust Lio the dragon. But to bring him disguised like this inside the Barrier…

“Galo!” From outside the cave, Ignis is calling for him. “Hurry up, we need to go report in!”

“And it’s freezing!” Remi adds.

“Damn…” Lio mutters, pulling his hood up. “I can make the horns go away later, but for now I’ll need to keep this on.” He looks at Galo, straight in the eye. His are more slit-pupiled than they should be, almost like a cat. “Please. Trust me.”

Galo is bad at a lot of things. He’s bad at waiting and at plans and preparations and at seeing the bigger picture.

But he’s always been good at following his heart. And right now, his heart is telling him that he can trust Lio. So, even though it’s probably a really bad idea, he nods and turns to lead the way out of the cave.

“Galo~” Lucia complains as soon as she sees him. “Why did you take so long?”

“It was like two minutes, Lucia.” Aina says flatly.

“I have experiments that could be done in two minutes!” Lucia says, kicking her legs against Varys. Galo is pretty sure Varys doesn’t notice at all.

“You did take a real long time, Galo.” Varys says. “What, you get attached to the cave?”

“It’s not a bad location, actually.” Remi says. “It would be good for certain types of research, particularly the sort that needs to take place far from others...”

“C’mon, be nice and not weird everybody.” Galo says. “I have someone I want you all to meet!”

“Someone to meet?” Ignis repeats skeptically. “Is this another of your presentations about katana and samurai? Because I thought you left all of your visual aids back in your bunk.”

“No, it’s a real person this time. This,” Galo says brightly, “Is Lio. He saved me after I fell off that cliff!”

Lio walks out of the shadows caught in the mouth of the cave when Galo says his name. In the direct sunlight, it’s easier to make out his clothes. They’re all black leather, ranger-style clothes that are strapped to him with far too many decorative belts. They look nice, nicer than anything Galo ever wears on the rare occasion he goes out without his armor.

“Huh, a real person.” Says Lucia.

“Definitely real.” Aina agrees, peering curiously at Lio. “And why is he with you, Galo?”

“I told you.” Galo says. “Lio made sure I didn’t die after I went off the cliff and then we fought the dragon together.”

“And killed it.” Lio adds. He’s hanging back a ways, clearly trying to stay in the shadows. Galo still just wants to stare at him and try to figure out how he managed to fit a whole dragon inside such a tiny body.

“Damn, you really killed a dragon, Galo?” Varys throws a heavy arm over Galo’s shoulders and he stumbles a bit. “Hardcore!”

“Lio helped!” Galo insists.

“Hmmm.” Remi is now looking over at Lio with an appraising eye. “He’s clearly not a big lug like you...are you a mage, perhaps?”

Lio tilts his head to the side. “Kind of.” He says and leaves it at that.

Remi and Lucia’s eyes both gleam. Galo knows they’re both gonna have a ton of probably very invasive questions for Lio later. Galo hopes that Lio can keep his cool and not try to light them on fire.

“Lio, huh?” Ignis is looking down at him, eyes intense and unreadable.

Lio meets his gaze readily. “Lio Fotia.”

Ignis nods. “Call me Sir Ignis. I’m the leader of this border rescue squad.”

“A pleasure.” He sticks out a gloved hand. Ignis takes it.

“So, Lio,” Aina asks, head tilted. “Are you from the Kingdom?”

“No, I-” Lio begins, but Lucia cuts him off.

“We can do all the get to know you stuff later! It’s cold out here, let’s go!” She insists.

“Don’t be rude.” Remi chides, but then adds, “But she’s right, it is cold. Maybe this can wait until we return to the Kingdom?”

“Will you be accompanying us, Lio?” Ignis asks.

Lio tilts his head to the side, apparently considering. “I suppose.” He drawls.

“Great!” Varys says. “If you really did help kill a dragon, I’m sure the King himself will wanna meet you.”

“The King, huh?” Lio’s eyes flash. Galo hopes nobody else notices. “I think I want to meet him, too.”

“Well, let’s head out then.” Ignis says, turning back the way they came. “Hopefully we can avoid getting caught in another storm.”

“Hey, it was an accident!” Galo defends as best he can, but he can’t actually find it in himself to be annoyed at any of them. He’s just glad everyone is okay. “C’mon, let’s go!”

He turns and starts to tromp through the snow, sure that the others will follow. They usually do.

Lio falls into step beside him, hood still up and horns still hidden.

“Okay, Galo.” He says. “Lead the way.”

**^^^^**

“I’m sorry, Galo, but it’s been too long since your arm was burned. I can relieve the pain some, but there’s nothing I can do about the scarring.”

Remi is frowning, hands glowing green laying carefully on Galo’s burnt arm. He lowers them after a moment and, despite the pretty ragged appearance, it doesn’t hurt too bad anymore.

“Thanks, Remi. It’s fine.” Galo says. “Every knight should have some good battle scars, right Ignis?”

“If I say no will you be more careful?” Ignis deadpans from his place in front of the stove. They’re all together resting in their station right outside of the Promepolis Barrier, recovering after their trek down from the Scorched Mountains and waiting for Ignis to finish up dinner. It’ll probably be a day or two before they head back inside the barrier and into the Kingdom itself.

Aina and Varys both cackle at Galo’s expression of dismay and shouted protests

“Hush!” Aina says with a light swat to his head. “Don’t wake Lio.”

Lio thanked all of them again and promptly passed out on the battered couch in the middle of the station. He’s still lying there, hood up, snoring softly as the border rescue squad works around him. Galo was a little worried he might revert to a dragon when he fell asleep, but no. It’s just plain old human Lio snoozing on the sofa.

“Whoops!” Galo does his best to whisper. “Sorry!”

Lio, though, doesn’t stir. He really seems to be dead asleep despite the chaos of the station.

“So, that little squirt really help you take down a dragon?” Varys asks, giving Lio a disbelieving glance.

“He really did!” Galo says and he feels horrible about lying. But technically, Lio took the dragon down all by himself. Took it down to a manageable human size, at least.

“You should know better than to judge people by their appearances, Varys.” Lucia says from her usual spot huddled over a caldron and several complicated-looking books in the corner. She tosses something into the caldron and the grey smoke billowing from it flashes and turns bright green. “Aha! Brilliant!”

Galo decides not to ask what is brilliant and instead turns back to look at Lio for a little bit more. He looks even smaller asleep, his hands folded neatly on his chest, his chin tilted up and to the side. His features are all sharp, even asleep. Galo thinks he might slice his hand open if he dared to touch Lio Fotia.

“So, Galo.” A voice makes him look over. Aina has sidled up to him, hands twined behind her back, out of her armor and in casual clothes. “Tell me...did Lio really just show up after you fell off that cliff?”

“I mean, kind of.” Galo says. “I got knocked out, I think, and when I woke up Lio had dragged me to that cave.”

“Stronger than he looks, then.” Aina says idly. “You’re no Varys, but you’re not light.”

“Hey!” Varys shouts. Aina ignores him.

“I don’t know how me did it.” He shrug. “I didn’t ask.”

She shakes her head. “Of course you didn’t.”

Lio lets out a breathy little sigh in his sleep, head tilting. His hood slips a bit, luckily still covering his horns. Galo suddenly wonders if he should tell them, Aina, Ignis and the rest, about who, what, Lio really is.

Would they understand? Or would they lock him up or try to hurt him?

Galo doesn’t know and, for now, it’s enough to make him be quiet.

“Dinner’s almost ready…” Aina says. “Should we wake him?”

“Let him sleep.” Ignis calls over from the kitchen. “We can save him a plate.”

Lio sleeps through all of dinner and through Lucia causing a loud explosion that left them all coughing on billows of black smoke (she told them it probably wouldn’t turn them all into frogs...Galo finds that a little concerning, but they’re all too used to Lucia’s failed experiments to be all that worried about it). Aina and Remi (who both live away from the station) both wave them goodnight and head out. Ignis, Lucia, and Varys all head up to bed. It’s just Galo downstairs, tending the low fire and putting the last few dishes up, when Lio gasps awake.

“Where…” He breathes. “Meis? Guiera?”

“Lio?” Galo leaves the last of the plates on the counter and walks over to the couch. “You up?”

Lio is awake, sitting up with his hood knocked askew. Galo can see his horns poking through his hair. He’s suddenly very glad the rest of the team went to bed early.

“Ugh.” Lio rubs his eyes. “Right. How long was I out?”

“A couple of hours.” Galo says. “We ate dinner a while ago. There’s still some left if you want…”

“Yes.” Lio says hurriedly. “Please.”

Galo heads back over the kitchen, where he left a portion of stew and bread set aside for Lio just in case. “I, um, I wasn’t sure what you ate. Is stew okay?”

“Fine.” Lio says and when Galo brings it back over, Lip tears into it like he’s starving. His table manners are pretty bad. Galo can’t really judge him, being a dragon and all. He probably doesn’t have a lot of experience with tables. He’s done with the bread and stew in a shockingly short amount of time.

“Did you need more?” Galo asks, taking the bowl from him and going over to set it back on the kitchen counter.

“I’m okay for now.” Lio says, but he sounds a little hollow. Galo rips him off another hunk of bread and hands in to him when he goes back to the couch. Lio wolfs it down in just a few bites, practically done by the time Galo sits beside him.

“I’m sorry.” He breathes once the bread is gone. “What I did today took a lot out of me.”

“Are you...okay?” Galo asks, feeling kind of awkward.

“I will be.” Lio’s eyes seem to reflect the glow of the low fire in the grate, irises going hot and molten. “I see you kept your word and kept my secret, Galo Thymos.”

“How did you know?”

“If they knew the truth,” Lio says lightly, “I’d be in a cage somewhere with manacles on my hands.”

“You don’t know that for sure…” Galo tries, but Lio cuts him off.

“Yes I do.” He looks tired. “You’re the exception, not the rule. You’re the weird one.”

“Hey!” Galo pouts.

A faint smile lifts the corner of Lio’s mouth. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”

Galo feels warmed all the way down to his toes by that smile.

For a while, neither of them speaks. The fire crackles in the grate. Outside, wind beats against the wall of the station. Galo tries to be patient, to let Lio decide what he wants to do next.

Finally, he sighs and leans back on his hands.

“I guess,” Lio says, “That I owe you some answers.”


	2. Lio Fotia - I

Things are not going according to plan.

Wait, no, that’s too big of an understatement.

Things are not even in the same room as the plan at this point. The plan is one side of an ocean and what is actually happening is the other. Lio shakes his head, trying to get back on track.

He’s exhausted even after sleeping for hours and his fire is still burning low after having to quickly heal the wound in his wing and then transform. But he promised Galo answers and, after everything, he owes that much.

They’re sitting side-by-side on a moth-eaten sofa in front of a dimly burning fire, Galo visibly biting his lip to keep from blurting out his questions. Lio takes pity on him. “So,” He says, “I’m a dragon.”

“But not right now?” Galo looks at him sidelong, like he might see wings that Lio has been somehow hiding.

“I’m always a dragon.” Lio holds out a hand and summons a tongue of flame to his palm with barely a thought. It’s dimmer than usual, but still a brilliant shade of pink and blue. “It’s just that sometimes people don’t notice.”

“Okay, but…” Galo’s head is tilted to the side and, not for the first time, Lio is reminded of a big puppy. “You don’t look like a dragon.”

“I always look like a dragon.” Lio says, but he knows what Galo’s asking.

“I mean a big dragon!” Galo waves his arms to demonstrate. “With like, wings and everything! I mean, you still have the horns, but…”

Lio had kind of forgotten about the horns. But they’re still there, poking out of his hair. He’ll need to get rid of them, but his fire is still burning so low. He sighs and closes his hand, extinguishing the flame in it.

“Dragons are different than people in Promepolis think.” Lio says. “We’re not all huge creatures with scales and wings. We're just _people_ a lot of the time.” He looks sidelong at Galo. "People like you and everyone else in the Kingdom, no matter what people like Kray Foresight seem to think." 

“Why did you want to come back to the Kingdom with us?” Galo is frowning at him. “Do wanna attack Sir Kray?”

Lio doesn’t know why Galo calls him Sir and not King like everyone else, but he’s not sure how to ask him about it so he just doesn’t. “I did not come here to attack the King.” Lio says slowly. It’s not even a lie. Sure, he wants to burn Kray alive sometimes, but he has other aims in the Kingdom right now.

Attacking King Kray is pretty far down on the list, so long as the things above that item pan out. If they don’t...well, who knows. Lio does love to improvise.

He looks at his hands, adjusts a minute imperfection in one of his gloves. “I have...comrades who have gone missing. I suspect that they’re here somewhere.”

There’s more to it than that, of course. Weeks of surveillance, months of suspicion, years of dragons just vanishing without a trace. There’s nowhere else they could be going. Promepolis is surrounded by high mountains on one side and deep ocean on the other. Lio is sure that they’re coming here, either by force or by choice, and he’s determined to find out why.

“Dragons, like you?” Galo’s eyes reflect the fire in the grate.

“Not quite like me.” Lio says. “Most of them...they have the ability to conjure fire, like I do, but,” He touches one of his horns absently. “You wouldn’t recognize them. They don’t transform the way I do.”

“Can other dragons do what you do?” Galo asks and Lio hesitates. It’s a secret, one that’s been kept for as long as he can remember.

But, well, Galo didn’t tell his friends that Lio is a dragon. And the importance of it will likely be lost on him. And Lio just _wants_ to tell him. So he does.

“No...not anymore.” He admits. “A long time ago, all of them could, but now...” Lio shrugs. He thinks there are probably other dragons out there in the world somewhere who can turn fully into dragons like he can. But he hasn’t seen any in a long, long time.

His band of dragons, who live in the tall and frozen Scorched Mountains beyond the borders of Promepolis, just have him. Even Meis and Guiera, the strongest after him, can only manage wings and talons. They can’t turn themselves into full dragons the way he can.

“So...just you.” Galo says.

Lio nods and tries not to let the weight of it show. “Just me.” He doesn’t tell Galo that years ago most of the other dragons could do it as easily as he can now. He doesn’t tell Galo that, for a long time now, all of their fires have been burning low.

Lio doesn't know why that changed only that it did. He doesn’t tell Galo that either.

His body feels heavier all of the sudden, eyelids and shoulders drooping as he gazes back into the fire. “Please.” He says. “Don’t tell your friends about me. About what I am.”

“Lio…” Galo’s voice is less sure than it usually is. “I think they would understand. All of them!”

“No!” Lio snaps. The low fire in the grate blazes, responding to his anger. “They wouldn’t! Humans never do.”

“ _I_ understand!” Galo says, splaying a hand over his chest. He’s out of his armor now, dressed in a dark shirt and trousers. He looks smaller. Less impressive, more like something Lio could kill if he had to. “All you’re doing is trying to find your friends. No one will stop you from doing that!”

“Yes they will!” Lio gets off the couch, rounds on Galo. “I don’t think the others just got up and left one day, Galo. I think that someone took them on purpose and,” He clenches his fists, wishes he could just burn everything to ashes, “I will do whatever I have to to get them back.”

Galo stays sitting, “Okay!” He says. “I’ll help!”

Lio should do the smart thing. He should leave right now, just leave, and hope he’s able to get through the barrier on his own. He could take his chances with Galo keeping his secret and head into the Kingdom to find Meis. It would be a smart thing for him to do.

But he doesn’t do it.

Instead, he sighs and the fight goes out of him. The room is thrown into cool greys as, behind him, the fire dies in the grate.

“I’m gonna help you, Lio the dragon.” Galo repeats, arms folded over his chest and face set with determination.

Lio reaches out and flicks him on the forehead. “It’s Fotia.” He says. “Lio Fotia. Don’t forget again, Galo Thymos.”

Galo pouts and rubs the red spot on his forehead.

“Why, Galo?” Lio can’t help but ask. “Why did you keep my secret? Why are you willing to help me?”

Galo tilts his head to the side. “Well,” He says. “You were in trouble. And your friends are in trouble too. And helping people who are in trouble...that’s what being a knight is all about!”

Galo Thymos is kind of an idiot and more decent a person than he has any right to be.

Lio is starting to suspect that he is going to pose a problem.

“Come on. We have a spare bunk you can use.” Galo says, getting to his feet. “You probably need more sleep.”

“Yeah, Galo.” Is all he says aloud. “I probably do.”

* * *

_Other dragons need days, weeks even, to recover between changing forms. Not Lio, though. Lio can be human in the morning, a dragon by lunch, and then a human in time for dinner._

_“Your fire is strong.” His grandmother tells him when he asks why. She’s not really his grandmother, but she’s the one who takes care of him so he figures that it’s close enough._

_It’s kind of like that for all of them, now. The war wiped out mother and fathers, cousins and sisters and brothers. No one was spared. Families aren’t based on blood now; they can’t be, there isn’t enough of it left._

_Lio doesn’t know what happened to his family, if he even had one at all._

_Some of the other dragons found him one day, wandering near a fierce battle that had just come to its conclusion. Grandma says there was blood on his face and ashes on his hands. He doesn’t know how they got there._

_He doesn’t remember much about what came before at all (stone underfoot that was black and wet, manacles at his wrists that bit and ached). He doesn’t really want to remember it, either._

_That was three years ago now. The war still rages on, but Lio stays with his grandmother and the other dragons who are too young, too old or too weak to fight. Their settlement in the mountains is small and isolated, but they can see Prompelis even from here. The Kingdom is built like a mountain, the top part always visible even over the trees._

_Lio gazes at it sometimes, wondering what it would be like to live up so high above everyone else. Lio likes high places. They’re easier to fly from._

_He’s standing at the edge of a rise, wings extended from his back. He’s only partway transformed today, just the wings and his horns out. It’s easier to fly like that than it is when he’s fully transformed. He’s lighter this way and the wind lifts him easily._

_It’s spring now and the mountains are coming alive with green leaves and birdsong. The grass feels good underfoot. Lio takes in a deep breath and raises his wings, lets the warm breeze take him and lift him off the ground._

_He flaps a few times, gaining height, before he falters and glides back down to the ground. He stumbles, almost falling, but manages to keep his balance as he comes to a stop right in front of his grandmother._

_“Very good!” She tells him, clapping her hands. “You will be flying on your own any day now!”_

_“Really?” Lio looks up at her with big eyes. Meis and Guiera are both way older than him and neither of them are allowed to fly alone._

_“You’re very talented, my Lio.” She says. “You have a strong fire.”_

_Lio tilts his head to the side. He knows what his fire is, obviously. It’s always burning inside of him, giving him warmth and strength. But he doesn’t know why other people have weaker flames. Surely their fires should all burn the same._

_“Come along.” Grandmother says. “We should find a higher place for you to take off from.”_

_“I wish we could go there.” Lio points to where they can see the top of the Promepolis palace over the trees. “That would be fun to fly from.”_

_Grandmother’s mouth twists into an odd smile. “I’m sure it would.”_

_“Why do we live here?” Lio asks. “And not over there?”_

_“That is a long story.” She says and she sounds tired._

_He looks up at her with wide eyes. “I like long stories.”_

_“All right, then.” She sighs and sits in the warm grass. She holds her arms wide, an invitation for him. He looks around, making sure no one else is here to see. He’s ten now, too old for this, but nobody is around to tease him and Grandma is always so warm. He hops into her lap and lets her hug him._

_“Wings away, young man!” She says after she gets a faceful of them. He giggles and closes his eyes for a moment, drawing them back into himself. Transforming is easy, just a matter of thinking about the fire in his chest and asking it nicely to do what he wants._

_“Very good.” She says and then holds up a hand, a tongue of flame bursting up in it. It glows a hundred colors; purple, pink, orange, blue...he can’t name them all. “Years ago, we did live in that place, in the Kingdom of Promepolis.” She says and the fire in her hand leaves and lands on the ground in front of them. It doesn’t spread though, instead it flares to make pictures_

_“Dragons have always liked freedom and independence. Our wings and our fires mean that we can go wherever we wish whenever we desire.” She says and the fire makes shapes of dragons flying. “Few of us lived in the Kingdom all of the time, but we were always welcome to stay and trade. And some of us did find lives among the humans.”_

_“Did you?” Lio asks._

_“For a time.” The fire glows deep purple. “But that changed when the war began.”_

_“How did it start?” Lio mumbles. The warmth of the fire is making him sleepy and his eyelids are drooping._

_“The humans attacked us.” She says. The fire dancing in front of them glows a soft blue and Lio can make out sinister shadows in the twists of flame. He sees a sword, a man dressed in armor, an arrow flying…_

_He gasps and hides his face in his hands. “Why did they do that?” He asks._

_“They say a child was taken.” She says. “A prince.”_

_“Prince?” He echoes and she nods._

_“It means that he was the child of their ruler. And the humans have always claimed that a dragon, the Mad Black Dragon they call him, stole away their prince.”_

_Lio turns in her arms, away from the fire, so he can look up into her face. There are deep wrinkles there, exhaustion beaten into the lines of her skin by time and hardship. “Did a dragon really do that?”_

_“We dragons never kill without reason.” She says._

_Lio doesn’t think that’s a very good answer, but he doesn’t know how to ask for a better one._

_“But the humans…” She continues, voice slower now. “They attacked up without a second thought. They sent mages with ice spells into the city to find us and extinguish our fires. They drove us out of the Kingdom and into the mountains and still, they haven’t stopped attacking us.”_

_“The humans...do they hate us?”_

_“I don't know.” She says and she sounds so tired. The fire in front of them fades into smoke. “Trust what your fire, your heart, tells you.” She holds him a bit closer. “You have such a strong heart, Lio. It will never lead you astray.”_

_Lio is ten and, for a very long time, he doesn’t have a clue what that means._

* * *

“So I’ve been thinking.” Galo says.

“That seems dangerous.” Lio says absently.

“Hey!”

They’re all walking back towards the Kingdom, Galo and Lio hanging back from the rest of the squad a bit. Lio has his hood down today, horns successfully hidden before everyone else woke up. His fire feels a bit stronger today, a steady thrum instead of a weak flicker. He feels more like himself, even if he’s annoyed at how high he has to step to get through the snow.

Lio squints at the shafts of early morning sunshine coming through the bare branches above them. “Okay Galo.” He says. “What are you thinking?”

“Your problem with the missing dragons…” He begins, voice far too loud in the crisp morning air.

“Shut up!” Lio hisses. “No one else can know about that!”

“Sorry!” Galo whispers very loudly back at him. Luckily, none of the rest of the Border Rescue Squad are paying them much attention. Lio get the impression that they’re used to ignoring most of Galo’s various outbursts and shenanigans.

“Just…” Lio is very tired. “What about my problem?”

“I was thinking about it last night.” His eyes are bright and earnest. “I think that you should ask King Kray to help!”

Lio glares at him. “I told you yesterday! Kray isn’t anything like you. If he knows that there are dragons in his city, he’ll only want to find them so he can kill them.”

“But if we explain it to him…”

“He’s not gonna wait for an explanation!

“You don’t know that if we don’t even try!” Galo says. “The war has been over for years now and I’m sure that King Kray doesn’t want to start any fighting.”

“He started it last time!”

“Yeah, but…”

“What are you two arguing about?” Aina cuts them off, her voice curious.

Lio didn’t really notice her gear yesterday, but he can see now that she’s dressed in knight’s armor just like Galo. Hers, unlike his, takes the reasonable precaution of covering her arms. She’s very pretty, Lio notes, with her shiny pink hair and ready smile. She gives that smile to Galo more often than she does to anyone else. Lio wonders if he notices.

“Nothing important.” Lio says with a jerk of his chin. “Are we getting close to the Barrier, Aina?”

Aina looks curiously between them, but doesn’t push. “We should be there in just a few minutes.” She falls into step beside him. “I can’t believe you’ve never been to Promepolis before. You’re gonna love it.”

He glances at her sidelong. “Oh? How can you be so sure?”

“Well, it’s got everything you would ever want.” She says. “And with the Barrier, it’s the safest place in the whole world. My sister has worked hard to make it that way!”

“You sister?”

“Her sister works in the palace.” Galo says. “Doing magic-y things.”

“Heris is an official court mage, Galo!” Aina corrects with a swiftness that suggests this has happened before. “It’s a very important position.”

“You sister is a mage?” Lio asks.

“Yes.” Aina beams. “She’s amazing. I can’t make heads or tails of anything magical, but Heris has been able to understand all of that since before I can even remember.”

“Psh.” Galo waves a hand. “Magic is nothing compared to the raw power of a finely-honed blade.”

“Oh?” Lio says. “And where is your very sharp sword?”

“ _Katana_!” Galo inists.

“Your katana.” Lio agrees. “Where is it?”

Galo looks mildly betrayed. “I...lost it.” He says and the words appear to physically pain him to say.

“You lost it.” Lio repeats.

“When we were fighting the dragon.” Galo says.

“Ah,” Lio looks up at Galo with wide, innocent eyes. “What a shame.”

He’s probably enjoying this too much. The sword, or katana apparently, snapped to pieces after just a little fire. Fitting punishment, Lio thought, for cutting his wing like it did. He was able to heal the wound, sure, but it still hurt.

“Wait, you lost your weird sword?” Aina says. “The one that Ignis got you after your took your knight’s vows?”

“Yes, I did.” Galo’s voice breaks in the middle and Lio is a little worried he is going to start crying. “It was a wonderful katana that served me loyally for years and…”

“Hey!” Aina cuts him off by calling out to the rest of the squad. “Galo lost his weird sword!”

They all stop walking and look around at Galo with surprise.

“Galo,” Remi sighs, “That sword was expensive.”

“And hard to find!” Varys agrees. “Captain had to look for months to find it for you.”

“I’m sorry!” Galo says. “Captain Ignis, I’m really sorry!”

“It’s just a sword, Galo.” Ignis says. “We can always just get you a new one.”

“Or make you a new one! Galo!” Lucia shouts. “Galo, I can make you a new one that can turn your enemies into toads!”

“How would that help anything?” Aina asks. “Toads are so small! It would be really hard to cut them!”

“Would you even need to, though?” Lio adds without really meaning to. He feels uncomfortably warm (even warmer than he is when he breathes fire) when the whole Squad’s eyes turn to him. “I just mean...a toad probably wouldn’t be...dangerous?”

There’s a long moment where no one speaks.

“He has a point.” Ignis says seriously and the entire group, Lio reluctantly included, starts to laugh.

“Lio gets it!” Lucia cackles. “It’s just a new way subdue an enemy!”

“My katana could subdue enemies just fine!” Galo says

“Oh my god, Galo…” Aina rolls her eyes.

The group is laughing and bantering, a spot of warmth among the snow and cold that makes Lio’s flagging fire flare. But...no. That’s not right. He frowns and pulls his hood back up. His guard is down too far. These people may be amiable, but they are not his allies. If they knew what he really was, they would attack without hesitation.

He needs to focus on his mission. It’s the only thing that matters.

“We should get going.” He says, turning away from them to look towards the Kingdom.

Promepolis is always visible, no matter where you are. It’s built like a mountain, level with the trees at the bottom, but rapidly rising above them. Up at the top, the bone white palace looms. The lines are harsh and unforgiving. Even from here, outside of the barrier, Lio is intimidated by the size.

Ignis starts off again, the rest of the squad following in his wake. Lio hangs back waits for them all to before he does. Galo shoots him a confused look that Lio pretends not to see.

He’s so distracted by his thoughts, he almost doesn’t notice when the group in front of him stops in front of what has to be the Barrier. He suspects to the humans the Barrier is nearly invisible, but his eyes are more sensitive to heat than theirs are. There’s a shimmer in the air, like a heat-mirage in miniature. He walks over to stand beside Galo.

“So this is it?” He asks. “The Barrier?”

“Yep!” Galo smiles. “King Kray invented it to keep us all safe.”

“Did he.” Lio says, low and considering. “What what does it do, exactly?”

“Keeps everything and anything we don’t know about out.” Remi says, overhearing. “Without a charm given to Border Squads by the King or a Court Mage, you can’t get through.”

“What about wanders? Traveling merchants? Refugees?” Lio demands. “People who need to get in.”

“Well, that’s what we’re for!” Galo says brightly, hitching a thumb towards his chest. “Border Rescue Squads take down anything that might try to mess with the barrier and help people who need to get inside.”

“Do you let everyone who wants inside in?” Lio asks.

Galo shrugs. “Usually.”

“We record and document all passages in.” Remi adds. “The king gets final say in whether or not newcomers can stay, but it’s rare he’ll cast someone out. Promepolis is a prosperous place, after all, and fairy remote. We aren’t being flooded with newcomers.”

“Right.” Lio rubs his jaw. “So, you’ll need to document me coming in as well, I expect?”

“Just your name and purpose in the city.” Remi says. “And we can worry about that once we get back to headquarters.”

“Done chatting over there?” Ignis asks, voice a bit chiding.

“Sorry captain.” Remi says with a slight dip of his head. “Just explaining the Barrier to Lio.”

“Well all he needs to know for now is to follow us in.” Ignis hold something up, presumably the charm Remi just mentioned. The charm is a crystal on a chain that Lio really would like a closer look at, but the Captain slips it back around his neck before Lio can really see anything aside from the faint pinkish glow coming from it.

The heat-haze appears to open like a door, a square section of the barrier falling away so they can walk through. Lio looks straight up at the high wall of the barrier before he steps through.

Everything Remi told him lines up with everything his spies already in the city reported. But now that he’s here...a barrier that keeps the whole world out...it’s kind of horrible to think about, let alone look at.

As he steps through, a wet, cold feeling envelops him. It’s like falling into a mud puddle but a hundred times worse. His mouth tastes foul, his head pounds, his fire dims. But then, he takes another step and it’s gone.

“Ugh.” He shakes his head and turns to Galo as he steps through the Barrier behind Lio. “Is it supposed to feel like that?”

“Hm?” Galo looks at him curiously. “Like what?”

Lio shakes his head. “Nevermind.” The others are within earshot. He can’t risk it being something that might give him away.

The Border Rescue Squad starts off down the path, through the last few pine trees. Lio follows behind them, still keeping his guard up. Once they’re clear of the trees, he can see small farmhouses and buildings dotted spread wide and, in the distance, where the spread out farms come together and turn into a proper city. He can even see the palace, glistening pristine and white over everything. It would be a bit of a walk, but Lio would be able to get from here to the palace with no trouble. It’s a strange feeling. Everything is strange within this Barrier.

Even the weather feels milder. It barely feels like winter and there’s no snow on the ground. Every step they take in gets a little warmer until soon it feels like it might be spring. They pass by some fields and, to Lio’s surprise, he sees green things growing in them. Promepolis, it seems, is a kingdom with no winter.

“Well!” Galo turns to him with a grin. “What do you think?”

“It’s...amazing.” Lio says because it is. It’s also a bit horrifying, this Kingdom locked away in secret from all the troubles of the world, even the cold.

The Border Rescue Squad walks on.

Lio follows.

* * *

_Lio is in his early twenties. He’s not sure...how early. Pretty early, he thinks. Probably twenty-three, maybe twenty-four. They’ve kind of gotten bad at keeping track of things like dates lately._

_It’s been hard on all of them, with how few dragons there actually are now._

_The population in settlement in the mountains has swelled and fallen in waves for as long as Lio has been here. But lately, for the last three years or more, it’s only been falling._

_And now that Lio is leader, it is his problem to solve._

_His grandmother died when Lio was still in his early teens, leaving the settlement leaderless. A few different dragons have tried to lead them since then, but all have either died or moved on._

_As the population dwindled smaller and smaller, Lio really didn’t have a choice. He’s the only one left who can do it. He’s the only one left with enough control over his fire to protect them, the only one of the dragons who can actually transform all the way anymore._

_Lio is hunched over a desk, staring at rows of recorded numbers that just don’t make sense no matter how much he squints. So many have gone missing...not just older dragons likely to wander on their own, but young ones with no family to speak of. Young ones he should have been looking out for…_

_He sighs, rubs his temples. It's cold today, the kind of cold that sinks into his bones and lingers._

_He thinks about his grandma who wasn’t really his grandma. He remembers what she told him, that his fire will protect him from the chill if he lets it, but his whole body is just so cold. He hates winter, hates it so much. He hates being cold, he hates feeling vulnerable and small like this, he hates that his people are missing and he can’t find them._

_He hates that he’s doing such a bad job. She would be so disappointed in him, in how Lio has failed them all…_

_“Boss.” Lio lowers his hand and looks up. Guiera is lingering in the doorway to Lio’s small house. “Bad time?”_

_“No,” He shakes his head. “What is it?”_

_“Got a report from Meis.” Guiera wiggles a scroll in his fingers and Lio straightens up._

_Meis is already in the city, has been there for months looking for any clue about the missing dragons. The reports he sends are frequently short and disheartening. Lio takes the report_

_It’s even shorter than usual, just a few lines._

_“Might have a solid lead on missing settlement members.” Lio reads aloud. “Will write later with more information.”_

_“Woo!” Guiera hoots. “A lead. Way to go Meis!”_

_“I have an idea.” Lio says._

_“An idea?” Guiera grins. “Can I help?”_

_Lio shakes his head. “The Promepolis patrols have been coming closer to the settlement for months now. We’re running out of time.” He blurts out what he’s wanted to say for years now, since before he even took over. “If Meis really does have a lead then I need to get into Promepolis.”_

_“Boss!” Guiera looks taken aback. “It’s too dangerous.”_

_“Meis is fine there.” Lio says. “And I’m stronger than Meis.”_

_“Yeah, but how will you get through their weird barrier? Meis says it’s impossible to get through alone.” Guiera says. “He only got through cause he joined up with some traders.”_

_“So I’ll wait til another patrol comes near and then follow and get through after them.” Lio says. “Simple.”_

_“And if they see you?”_

_Lio huffs and the candle on his desk flares a little. “Then I’ll improvise. I can’t just sit here, Guiera. I’ve waited too long already!”_

_His wings are cramped and he’s tired of feeling small and useless. When he gets like this, the only cure is to fly very high and then to burn some random trees to ash. Lio is not proud of his penchant for destruction, but he is comfortable with it after all this time._

_“I need to go fly.” He says. “If I’m not going to be able to let my wings out for a few weeks. And after that, I’ll go find a patrol.” He eyes Guiera. “Can you protect the settlement?”_

_Guiera grins. His teeth are very sharp and very white. “C’mon, Boss.” He says. “Who do you think I am?”_

_Lio rolls his eyes. He’s known Guiera since they were both kids (or at least since he was a kid and Gueira was an angsty teen who wouldn’t talk to him). He knows that Guiera is strong and brave, but he can’t become a full dragon like Lio can and he’s got an unfortunate tendency to jump into things without thinking._

_Despite that, Lio does trust him. Guiera will keep everyone safe. He has to believe that._

_“Keep everyone safe.” Says Lio. “I am going to find the others.”_

_“What if you can’t, boss?” Guiera asks._

_Lio adjust his gloves, makes sure his knives are all properly stowed away. “I will.” He says, “No matter what.”_

* * *

“So there’s no winter here?” Lio repeats for probably the third time. “None at all?”

“Well, there’s _kind of_ a winter.” Galo says, tilting his head from one side to the other. “It’s colder near the walls and sometimes when the snow falls really hard a little bit gets through.”

“But it never gets cold in here, does it?” Lio says. “That should be impossible!” Even for his fire, it would be impossible to keep a whole Kingdom warm.

“You could ask Heris, next time she comes by.” Aina says, overhearing. “She can’t tell you too much for, like, security reasons, but she can probably give you an idea of how it works.”

Lio nods. “Thank you. That would be helpful.”

He’s glad she doesn’t ask him why it would be helpful. It was a stupid thing to say, but Lio is out of his element now and feeling strange and exposed.

They’ve passed through the outskirts, which were mostly farmland and small inns. They’re into the heart of Promepolis now, where the streets are congested with people going places and merchants hawking their wares.

Lio has never been around this many people before. He’s lived in and around the settlement in the mountains for as long as he can remember and that had, at most, 200 dragons there at one time.

Lio may not be big, but his fire is and his power is. Everyone in the settlement know who he is and what he can do. People don’t crowd Lio Fotia. And it’s not like he demands it or anything, but he is used to it. So being here, in a crowded street with people bumping and jostling him without any concern for who his is, it uncomfortable.

He finds himself sticking close to Galo. Galo isn’t huge like Varys, but he is at least taller than Lio is. He’s loud too, which makes him easy to find, and helps them make their way through the crowd of people. Galo does it so easily, with kind words to people or a quick smile.

Lio steps a little closer, willing to be drawn along in his wake.

“Any shops you want to look at?” He asks Lio as they sidestep a row of stalls all selling vegetables far greener than they should be in the middle of winter.

“I, ah, no.” Lio says. “I’m fine.”

“They have archery shops, you could get new arrows!” Galo nods to the bow Lio has at his side.

“I think I’m good.” Lio says. He’s a good shot, but fire will always be his first choice of weapon. “I don’t actually use this very much.”

“You sure?” Galo asks and his eyes gleam.

Galo’s eyes look like dragonfire, more than one color swirling in the irises. Lio does his best to focus on that and not the way the crowd jostles past him.

“I’m sure.” He says. “Besides, don’t we have places to be?”

“Right, right.” Galo rubs the back of his neck. “This way!” He points and starts striding off. Lio hurries to follow after him, not wanting to be lost in the crowd.

When they finally reach the Border Rescue Squad’s headquarters inside the city, Lio is well and truly exhausted. He’s flown for hours and not felt so tired before. Humans, he’s rapidly found, are very draining.

He examines the building they’re standing in front of. It’s much larger than the outpost beyond the Barrier, complete with an attached stable and what looks like a crooked tower rising up out of the roof at a lopsided angle.

“Welcome!” Galo says. “To Border Rescue Headquarters!” He flings out a hand towards it. “The finest building in the whole Kingdom!”

“I’m sure the palace would disagree.” Aina says as she breezes past them.

“This is ours, though!” Galo says. “So it’s the best!” He grabs Lio by his wrist. “Lemme give you the tour.”

Lio snatches his wrist back. “I’m right behind you, idiot. You don’t have to manhandle me.” Dragons can’t get burned, but for a moment, Lio feels like his whole arm is on fire.

Galo laughs. “Right, sorry. Well, follow me! I’ll show you everything!”

Galo does show him everything, from the stables (Galo’s horse is named Uma, which he assures Lio is a traditional horse name from across the sea) to the kitchen (which is large and well-stocked with alcohol and spices) to the armory (which is filled with a weird combination of traditional knight's gear and things obviously invented by Lucia). By the time they get back to the common room, the rest of the squad is sitting and talking absently.

Ignis looks up when they enter. “There you are. I wanted to check in before I left, Galo.”

“Where are you going?” Galo frowns.

“Just headed up to the palace to report in about the dragon. I’ll probably be back early tomorrow, but I assume they’ll want to talk to you and Lio soon enough.” Ignis says. “It was your quest, after all. Don’t wander off too far.”

Galo nods. “Of course, captain!”

“Lio, I would appreciate it if you stayed at the station for the time being.” Ignis says.

Lio considers his options and then nods his assent. They don’t appear to know his secret and there’s likely still information he can gather from them. Besides, he can’t go meet with Meis until after nightfall anyway.

“We usually have more than enough rooms, but Lucia blew half of them up last week.” Ignis says.

“It was for the greater good!” Lucia protests. “I won’t apologize for it!”

“He can share with me!” Galo says brightly. “I have bunk beds, remember?”

“Right.” Ignis nods. “Lio, if you don’t mind?”

Lio nods. “That’s fine.” He’s slept in much worse places than bunk beds, no matter how noisy the other occupant might be.

Galo goes to grab his wrist again, but stops just short, obviously remembering his reaction before. “Um, I...come on!” He turns away, looking flustered, and stomps towards the stairs.

Ignoring the strange looks the rest of the squad throws Galo, Lio nods respectfully to Ignis once more before following Galo up the stairs and through the first door on the left into a surprisingly clean room. There’s not much there, actually, beyond some old armor piled in one corner and a few books sitting on a low shelf.

“You can have the top one.” Galo nods to the bunk beds in the corner. “I always fall off if I try to sleep up there.”

“Fine.” Lio sighs and leans up against the wall near the door. “Why do you have bunk beds at all?”

“Wanted to be ready for visitors.” Galo shrugs. “If I ever had them.”

“I...see.” Lio gets the feeling he doesn’t see at all, but he doesn’t push it. “You gonna stay in your armor for the rest of the day?” Galo looks down, as if surprised to find himself still clad in his dented and scorched armor.

“Oh, right.” He starts unbuckling it right here. Lio looks away. He knows Galo has clothes on underneath, but it just seems so...intimate.

“I’ll have to get this to Lucia.” Galo says, oblivious to Lio’s embarrassment. “She’s gonna yell at me for all the dents she’s gonna have to fix.”

“So...if she’s fixing your armor, is she a blacksmith?” Lio asks. “I thought she was a mage. Or an alchemist.”

“She’s all those things.” Galo finishes unbuckling his cuirass and lets it fall to the floor with a loud thump. “Lucia says it’s very important to have varied interests.”

“Right.” Lio says. “So, if she’s some sort of magic expert, why is she hanging around a bunch of knights?”

“We’re all knights.” Galo says, starting in on his greaves. The motion causes the burn on his arm to pull and bend. Lio swallows down his guilt as best he can. “Promepolis doesn’t just restrict knights to people who can fight with swords, you know. Anyone who wants to protect others can be a knight!”

“Huh.” Lio tilts his head to the side. “Interesting.”

“Yep!” Galo says. “It was Sir Kray’s idea, actually. I think it was pretty smart!”

“You call the King sir and not his highness.” Lio says and he wants to make it a question, but he’s not sure if that would be overstepping his bounds.

“Oh, yeah.” Galo doesn’t look up from his armor. “He was my mentor back when I was a squire.”

“Squire?” Lio repeats. The word seems familiar but he can’t place it.

“A knight-in-training!” Galo says brightly. “He was a knight before he was a King. He agreed to let me serve him! And even though he had to become king before I could finish my training, I still forget to call him the right thing sometimes.” He laughs about it.

“Hmmm.” They laspe into silence as Galo finishes taking off his armor. Lio watches out the small window as the sun sinks in the distance. He’ll have to go find Meis after it sets, get him up to speed.

“So are you going to get changed?” Galo asks and Lio looks over at him. Galo is shirtless now and dressed in low-slung trousers that look too big for him. Lio looks away again in a hurry.

“No.”

“Oh…” Galo straightens up and walks over to stand right next to him. “Is it, like, a dragon thing?” He reaches out, like he’s going to poke Lio’s leather-clad arm. “Is this really your skin just transformed to look like clothes?”

“Oh my gods, no you idiot.” Lio smacks his hand away. “This is actual, real clothing. There’s a spell on them so they won’t fly apart every time I transform.”

“Cool!” Galo says. “Do your arrows and stuff do that do?”

Lio touches the strap of the quiver slung across his back. “Yes. They’re tied to me as well, so if I lose them in a fight I can find them again.”

“Wow, that is awesome.” Galo says. “Could you do that for me? When I get my new katana, I mean.”

“I’m not actually all that good at magic.” Lio says with a shake of his head. “I paid a traveling mage to do these spells for me. Mine kind of starts and ends at making fire.” To demonstrate, he snaps and a tongue of colorful fire appears over his thumb.

“But your fire is so colorful.” Galo says, leaning towards it again. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s dragonsfire.” Lio says. “Different than normal fire.” He flicks his fingers and the fire jumps over to perch on Galo’s shoulder. Galo squawks in surprise and Lio closes his fingers, extinguishing it in a pop.

“Ouch!” Galo says, rubbing his cheek. “That was hot.”

“Oh, lighten up.” Lio smirks at him. “I could have made it much, _much_ hotter.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” Galo says and Lio laughs.

They have dinner with the rest of the Squad, some type of spicy chili that Varys makes. Lio is mostly quiet as the rest of them all chatter and laugh. He feels strangely lonely even in the middle of it all, even with Galo’s attempts to include him.

He hopes that, up on the mountain, none of the dragons are too cold. He hopes that they’re safe. He hopes all of his people are, against all odds, safe.

After dinner, Aina and Remi both head out to their respective homes. Lucia (after scolding Galo a bit) takes off into the strange lopsided tower with all of Galo’s armor in tow. Varys goes to tend to the horses. Galo leads the way up to his room, and after a bit of prodding at Lio to learn more about him and what it even means to be a dragon, he falls asleep.

Lio lays around a while, making sure Galo is asleep, before he gets up and creeps outside. The streets are empty now and easier for him to navigate, but it still takes him the better part of an hour to find the place he wants.

He finally reaches the bar he’s looking for at the end of a twisting alleyway. The windows are dim and whole building is so dingy that he can barely make out the writing on the sign. But if he gets close and squints he can see curling writing that spells out “THE MAD DRAGON.”

He slips inside, his hood still up, and makes his way to the bar. The bartender, tall and slim with long hair, doesn’t pay him much mind at all. He’s the only patron here, if he doesn’t count the spiders in the corners.

“I gotta say.” Lio says. “The name is in terrible taste.”

The bartender turns to him, eyes going wide. “ _Boss_?”

Lio lowers his hood. “Meis.” He says. “Good to see you.”

Behind the bar, Meis straightens up and smiles. “What are you doing here?”

“Just got into the Kingdom.” He says. “And I need whatever information you have.”

There are a small handful of dragons that he knows about scattered throughout the city, but Meis is who Lio relies on for intel. He’s been here for only a few months and already he has contacts all over Prompepolis, from the fields to the palace itself.

“Why are you in the Kingdom at all?” Meis says. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Our people are missing, Meis, and we’re not getting anywhere.” He leans up against the bar. “I can’t wait anymore.”

Meis picks up a rag and starts wiping down a glass absently. “I might have to agree with you.” He says. “My contact at the palace had bad news for me yesterday.”

“News?” Lio demands. “What kind of news?”

“He mentioned prisoners getting brought into the palace dungeons.” Meis says. “And I can’t be sure, but some of the descriptions be gave me were...familiar.”

Lio’s hands ball into fists. “I knew it. That Foresight bastard...he must be doing something to them.” He looks up at Meis. “Meis. We need to go, now. We can get into the palace tonight and…”

“Slow down.” Meis sets down his glass and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You know as well as I do that we’d have no chance just barging in like that.”

“I could…” Lio growls, mutinous, but Meis cuts him off.

“Not even you, Boss. You don’t remember the war like I do. Ice mages can take down a dragon.”

“So what do you think we should do?” Lio’s fire is flaring hot and angry in his chest. He wants to burn down the whole Kingdom, light that stupid palace on fire and save his people right now.

“We need to do reconnaissance, figure out if there’s any truth in what my contact told me.” Meis says. “And then we can go from there.”

Lio knows his teeth are too sharp, his eyes slit pupiled. He takes a breath, tries to make sure his exhale doesn’t come out as fire instead. “ _Fine_.” He grits out. “Fine.”

Meis nods. “You look exhausted. There’s a cot in the back you can use, probably some leftover food if you look…”

“Oh, I actually have a place to stay already.” Lio says, feeling suddenly awkward.

Meis raises an eyebrow that is annoying judgey.

“Nothing salacious, put that eyebrow down.” Lio says. “I managed to convince some Border Squad members that I helped to kill a dragon.”

“Kill a dragon?” Meis says flatly. “What dragon?”

“Myself.” Says Lio. “Obviously.”

“Oh right, obviously…” Meis echoes. “This all sounds dangerously complicated. You sure you don’t wanna ditch ‘em and stay here? The Kingdom is a big place. Likely they’d never even see you again.”

Lio taps his fingers against the bartop. “I think,” He decides aloud, “It will be useful for me to stay where I am now.”

“Boss?” Meis frowns. “You sure that ain’t dangerous?”

“Of course it’s dangerous.” Lio says. “But staying with these knights will give me better access to the palace.”

Meis’s face darkens. “You shouldn’t be going anywhere without backup, Boss.”

“I won’t do anything reckless.” Lio says.

“Liar.” Meis says.

“I am not.” Lio sniff. “I never do reckless things.”

Meis looks very tired. “I have known you since you were like seven. And you are the most reckless person I know.”

“More than Guiera?” Lio raises an eyebrow.

“ _Yes_.” Meis says emphatically. “Guiera is, like, low-stakes reckless. You, though…” He shakes his head. “Just be careful, Boss.”

Lio smiles ruefully. “I can’t promise that. But I’ll do my best.”

Meis sighs. He’s older than Lio and Guiera both by a handful of years, probably closer to forty than thirty. Lio knows he worries about them both and wishes he didn’t have to.

“Get me a drink.” Lio says.

“Oh?” Meis raises an eyebrow. “Have you taken up drinking at last, Boss?”

Lio snorts. “Of course not. But I need to smell like alcohol. No one goes to a bar to sit and talk.”

“Except you.” Meis says, but he ducks down and pours Lio a mug of sour beer. Lio frowns but takes a few shuddering sips.

“Ugh.” He runs his tongue over his teeth. “Disgusting.”

Meis cackles at him and Lio flips him off. “I need to get going.” He says, leaving the mostly full mug on the bar. “They’ll likely notice if I’m gone too long.”

“Right.” Meis takes back the mug of beer, takes a long drink and sighs. “You have no taste, Boss.”

Lio rolls his eyes and turns to go. “Stay safe out there.” Meis tells him.

Lio waves without looking back. “Of course.”

Outside the bar the night air is cool, but not as cool as it should be. It makes him nervous, tense like he can sense an oncoming storm. He slinks back to headquarters through the mostly-empty streets, sticking to the shadows where he can.

He makes it back without any interruptions, even manages to slip inside and up the stairs without distributing anyone. But when he opens the door to the room he hears rustling as Galo wakes.

“Lio?” He mutters. “S’that you?”

Lio closes the door behind him as quietly as possible and flicks his finger, calling forth a spark of dragonsfire. “Yeah, Galo.” He says. “Just me.”

“Where’d you go?” Galo asks, sitting up in his bed. In the light of the dragonsfire, his eyes seem to glow.

“Just needed some time to myself.” Lio says, stopping in front of him. “I stopped at a bar, had a drink.”

“Huh.” Galo says. “You didn’t seem like the type.”

Lio lets out an exasperated sigh. “We have known each other for like two days, Galo. What do you even know about me?”

“I know that you’re smart and strong and good!” Galo says, loud enough that Lio worries people outside as well as the rest of headquarters might hear. “That you want to help your people no matter what!”

“That’s not a lot to know.” Lio murmurs.

“It’s enough.” Galo pouts, stubborn. “Because it’s you, I know enough”

“You’re such an idiot, Galo Thymos.” Lio says, hoping that it’s dark enough to hide the blush that he knows is lighting up his face.

It's just like he feared. Galo Thymos is a _problem_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio is so extra i love him very much 
> 
> happy christmas if you celebrate and happy december 25th if you dont~  
> i’ve had the past two days off to write so i was able to get this to you early
> 
> see you again in about two weeks! 
> 
> (ps. leave me comments, i like comments a bunch :) )


	3. Galo Thymos - II

Galo ducks and narrowly avoids being punched in the head.

Unfortunately, the near miss only serves to make the troll that they’re fighting even angrier. It roars raising its arms high again.

“Galo!” Aina shouts, but Galo is already dashing out of the way, feet slipping a bit on the snow. They’re only a little way from the Barrier and the warmth that emanates from it makes the snow underfoot loose and slushy.

“Careful!” Lio hisses, darting over to steady Galo with a hand on his elbow.

“Thanks!” Galo beams at him, but doesn’t have time to do much more than that before the troll barrels towards them. They spring apart, fleeing in different directions.

The troll is big, probably ten feet tall, with skin that’s a cracked and mottled mess of black and grey. It has a gaping mouth and two small eyes that glow red when Galo meets them.

The eyes remind Galo of Lio’s when he’s in full dragon form, just a bit.

He’s fought many trolls during his time with border rescue. They seem bigger, lately. Angier, too.

“Take that!” Varys strikes at it with his battleaxe, blade making a crunching sound as it hits the creature’s skin.

“This too!” Remi raises a hand and a bolt of magic strikes the troll, knocking it back a few feet.

The troll just roars again. It seems to Galo like it’s not injured at all, just enraged. He tightens his hold on his (sadly ordinary) sword. He knows about to use it, of course, but he’s not as good with a plain sword as he is with a katana.

Still, even with the ordinary sword, he manages to run forward and knock away the troll’s fists as it tries to smash Lucia into tiny pieces. She raises her hands and, in a flash of bright green, the troll stumbles back and roars.

“Ha!” She crows, but the troll shakes its massive head and lurches back towards them.

“Damnit!” Aina snarls. She has her long, wickedly sharp daggers out, but Galo doesn’t think they’ll work any better than his sword or Vary’s axe did. The only thing having an impact is magic and that impact is pretty small. “This thing just won’t go down!”

“Yes it will.” Lio snaps and raises his right hand. A moment later, the whole troll goes up in brilliant blue and pink flames. It only takes a few moments before the troll is burned to ash and the whole group is looking at Lio, open-mouthed.

He’d been using his arrows all morning on their patrol, pretty accurately too. But the magic he’s just shown is clearly more effective.

“Nice, Lio!” Galo grins at him and gives him a thumbs up.

“Well.” Lio adjusts his cuffs, not looking at Galo. “It was taking too long.”

Galo laughs, delighted. He wants to talk to Lio more, but his team is already brimming with questions.

“What spell was that?” Remi asks from one side.

“Yeah, that fire was so pretty!” Lucia says. “How did you do all the colors? I want my magic to be that pretty!”

“Don’t crowd him!” Galo insists, shouldering in and slinging an arm around Lio so he can drag him away from them.

“Take your own advice, Galo.” Aina says.

“It’s different when it’s me!” Galo insists.

“Why, Galo?” Lio says flatly from under Galo’s arm. “Why is it different?”

“It just is!” He insists.

They’re out today hunting trolls and other creatures that might cause trouble for traders or anyone else outside of the barrier. Other Border Rescue Squads are out farther, doing longer patrols. King Kray has been sending people out further from the Kingdom, insisting that they make things as safe as possible.

But today’s patrol won’t even last a day; they’re just checking up on the area right around the busiest entrances to the Kingdom.

Galo wasn’t gonna ask Lio to come at first, but he woke Lio when he was getting ready (even though he was trying really hard to be quiet) and, after hearing where Galo was going, Lio insisted on coming along. Lio says it was because he wanted to look at the Barrier again, but Galo is pretty sure he actually just wanted to light some stuff on fire.

He’s in a much better mood as they finish their patrol, smiling even though the snow goes almost to his thighs and Lucia won’t stop pestering him.

“Well, who taught you it, then?” She’s asking him. “If you can’t teach me, I’ll just go to whoever taught you!”

“I told you already, that won’t work.” Lio says, grabbing Galo’s arm to steady himself as he clambers over some snow-encrusted rocks.

His touch is hot, even though his gloves.

“Why, though?” Lucia whines.

“Some magic can’t be taught.” Remi says. “You know that, Lucia. And some is a family secret and...”

“Ugh, I know, I know.” Lucia huffs, carefully following alone in Remi’s wake so she doesn’t vanish underneath the snow. “Still! Your magic is pretty, Lio.”

“Thanks.” Lio says dryly, but Galo thinks he sees the start of a pleased smile on his lips. He’s been trying to get better at reading Lio these past few days, deliberately paying attention to all of his reactions. They’re big when he’s feeling big things, easy to see and understand, but the rest of the time they’re smaller, harder to figure out.

Galo is learning, though, as carefully as he can manage.

That’s why he notices when Lio tries to hide a shudder as they all pass back through the barrier. His whole face is pale too, even more than usual.

“You okay?” Galo asks.

Lio’s eyes narrow a bit, but he nods. “Fine.”

Galo frowns, but doesn’t press as they all mount the horses they’ve left tied right inside the barrier. He pats Uma’s nose fondly and clambers onto her saddle. He offered to let Lio ride behind him, but Lio instead choose to climb up after Aina. Galo gets it, she’s smaller and her horse is bigger than Galo’s. It must be more comfortable.

They ride back to the heart of the Kingdom quickly enough, not many words exchanged over the loud thumping of their horses’ hooves. By the time they get the horses back to the stable attached to headquarters, the sun is hanging low in the sky, casting the whole of Promepolis into warm red light and deep blue shadows.

“We’re gonna go to that tavern over by the palace.” Aina says after she helps Lio down from her horse. “You wanna join?”

Usually, Galo would be the first to agree. He loves that tavern over the palace, they have the best booze (or, well, the cheapest booze) and a really nice innkeeper who lets them hang around even after the place is officially closed.

But Lio is looking up towards the palace with a dark look on his face. Galo kind of worries if they get any closer, he’ll run off and try to fight his way inside. It’s remarkable he’s even managed to wait a week without doing it already.

“I, ah, no.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m kinda tired, I think I’ll head inside, get some rest.”

“Are you sure?” Aina looks a bit disappointed, but Galo nods.

“Next time!” He promises.

They all gently rib him a bit more (Lucia literally sticks one of her pointy elbows into his ribs), but head out without him. Galo pats his horse on the nose a few times, makes sure there’s enough hay and water, and is about to head out of the stable and back inside when he sees Lio leaning in the doorway, eyes fixed on the palace.

His hair looks pink in the light of the sunset, sharp lines of his face made sharper by the shadows caught there. Galo’s fingers itch. He wants something he doesn’t have the words for.

“You hungry?” Galo asks and Lio’s eyes flick towards him. “I’m not a great cook, but I can make something edible!”

Lio’s shoulder twitch in a shrug and he leans away from the doorway, straightening up. “You have to be better than I am.” He says. “I burn everything.”

That makes Galo laugh as they head inside. “Is that a dragon thing or a Lio thing?”

“A Lio thing.” Lio admits, expression a little sheepish. “My grandmother was a great cook.”

“Your grandmother was a dragon too?” Galo asks.

Lio nods. “We weren’t related by blood, but, yeah.” He bypasses the kitchen to settle on the threadbare couch. Galo follows him, leaning up beside the hearth. It’s cold and empty, but it’s not like they need the warmth. The air outside feels like summer.

“There used to be so many of us.” Lio says, staring into the empty hearth. “Grandmothers and children...families, Galo.”

Galo swallows. “Lio…”

“I need to get to the palace, Galo.” Lio’s voice is a low rumble, like distant thunder. “I’ve looked everywhere else I can think of. The other dragons have to be there. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Why, though?” Galo tilts his head to the side. “You said it yourself, Sir Kray hates dragons! Why would he just, like, take a bunch of ‘em?”

Lio leans back, propping one ankle on the opposite knee. “That is what I need to figure out. And I can’t do that without going up to the palace itself.”

Galo tilts his head, thinking. He still doesn’t think that Sir Kray has done anything wrong (it’s Sir Kray, of course he hasn’t), but he wants to help Lio. Maybe if Lio could just meet Sir Kray he would understand…

“I’ll talk to Ignis.” Says Galo. “He said that the King would probably wanna talk to us about slaying that dragon. If I talk to Ignis, he can probably speed it up and make it happen faster.”

Lio’s face lightens a little. “You think?”

“Yep!” Galo pops the p. “Ignis is really good at making stuff happen, you’ll see.”

Lio just nods, posture slumping a bit and legs spreading out. He always sits like he’s trying to take up as much space as possible. Galo thinks it’s kinda funny, like Lio is trying to remind people that he can be a big dragon if he feels like it, that he can take up way more space if he wants.

“I’ve checked everywhere else.” He says. “They have to be there.”

“Where else have you checked?”

Lio looks at him sidelong. “Just...other places.”

Galo know Lio goes out at night, probably looking for his people all over the Kingdom. He always claims its to get drinks when Galo asks but Lio, for all that he likes sleeping in, is never hungover. Galo knows men who go out for drinks every night, knows what the dullness of alcohol looks like on people. Lio never even looks a bit like those people.

Lio Fotia is sharper than a sword. Probably more dangerous than one too.

Galo has always had a problem with wanting to poke pointy objects.

“You could have gone out with Aina and all them, you know.” Lio says, very obviously changing the subject. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

Galo just shrugs. “You could’ve gone out with them too. They like you!”

Lio snorts and Galo thinks it might come out a little bit...smokey. “They’re nosy about me. It’s not the same.”

“It usually is with them!” Galo says. “They want to know more about you. Isn’t that what friends do?”

Lio looks away without answering and Galo stands up, patting Lio on the head once and ignoring his outraged splutter before he goes over to the kitchen. “I’m gonna make us dinner. I’ll talk to Ignis first thing in the morning, okay?”

Lio is quiet for a bit as Galo bustles around, deciding what to make. Finally, though, Lio speaks.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Galo.”

**^^^**

Ignis, after much poking and prodding from Galo, manages to get them an audience with the King in only two days.

“Can you two manage going there by yourselves?” Ignis asks at dinner the night before they’re supposed to go.

“Of course!” Galo grins at him. “I used to be there all of the time, remember?”

“I think what the Captain is really asking is if you can manage to get through seeing the king without offending anyone.” Lucia says.

“Hey!” Galo frowns. “That isn’t what he was asking!”

“No, Galo.” Ignis says. “That is exactly what I was asking.”

Lucia practically screams with laughter and the rest of the squad joins in. Galo pouts. He was the squire to the prince for years! He knows how not to offend royal people!

“Lio should be able to handle it for both of them, right?” Aina asks over the laughter.

“Uh…” Remi points at Lio, who is currently trying to shove half of a loaf of bread into his mouth. “I wouldn’t count on that.”

“I can go up with you if you want.” Aina offers, tilting her head to meet Galo’s eyes.

“Thanks, but we’ll be okay!” He says, clapping Lio on the back. He coughs and half-chokes on the bread. “Oh, sorry Lio.”

“Idiot.” Lio glowers after a massive swallow.

Aina sighs. “That’s Galo for you.” She says, voice tired, but fond. “Well, if that’s everything I’m gonna head out. Have fun tomorrow, boys!”

Conversation is a bit stilted after Aina’s sudden departure, most of them finishing their food in silence.

“Sucks she had to leave so soon.” Galo says absently, picking at a long scratch on the edge of the table. He wonder who caused it.

“Galo, do you…” Lio begins, but trails off with a shake of his head. “Nevermind.”

“Hm?” Galo looks up from the table and tilts his head. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Lio gets to his feet, brushing the (many, many) crumbs off of his shirt. “See you in a bit?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “Just gotta polish my armor for tomorrow!”

“Don’t stay up too late.” Is all Lio says before he heads up to their room. Galo watches him go. Will he stick around after tomorrow? Galo hopes so...he’s gotten used to having Lio as part of the Squad.

“Galo? Gaaaalo?” Lucia is leaning towards him now. He gets the feeling that she said his name a couple of times before he noticed.

“Hm?” He shakes his head. “Oh, sorry. What’s up, Lucia?”

She cackles and doesn’t answer.

“Poor Aina.” Remi sighs.

“Huh?” Galo blinks. “What’s wrong with Aina?”

“Nothing, Galo.” Remi gets to his feet as well. “Don’t embarrass us too bad tomorrow.”

“Hey! I never embarrass us!”

Varys chuckles. “Oh yeah? What about that time with the wolves when you jumped into the lake and forgot you were wearing metal armor that would sink and Captain had to go and save you from drowning?”

“Okay, one time!”

Remi snorts. “How about the time you accidentally poisoned yourself?”

“That was mostly Lucia’s fault!”

“Well, what about the time you lost your sword?”

“Hey, that one hurts, Lucia.”

They laugh and chat a while longer, but it’s dark and Remi needs to head out and Ignis has reports to check and Varys wants to go do some axe practice, so soon it’s just Galo and Lucia at the table.

“Come with me.” Lucia says. “I’ve got something for you.”

“Is it dangerous?” Galo asks, both excited and a little bit scared. That’s how he usually feels when Lucia says she has things for him.

“Oh, very dangerous.” She grins at him before leading him up the stairs and unlocking the many locks on her door.

He follows her inside her room, which looks as dangerous and chaotic as ever. Something in the corner is actually on fire, but Lucia doesn’t look bothered so Galo decides not to worry about it.

“It’s right over here, just hold on a minute.” Lucia says and starts to dig through one of the piles of junk. Galo can hardly see her bed underneath all of it.

“Aha!” She straightens up, holding something up triumphantly.

Galo recognizes it immediately and lets out a gasp. It’s a katana, the same size and shape as his last one, with a sleek blue and white sheath.

“A katana!” He cries, unable to help the massive smile spreading across his face. “You made me a new one.”

“Yep.” Lucia grins. “It’s just as sharp, I promise. We couldn’t have you going to the palace in less than perfect shape.” She presents it to him, hilt first, and he takes it. It feels familiar in his hand, the same weight as the one Lio broke.

“Lucia!” He beams. “Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waves a hand. “Don’t get all mushy on me. And don’t lose this one! It’s a one-time favor, okay?”

“Okay!” He says and sets the katana before he grabs her in a bearhug that she immediately attempts to escape.

“Hey, put me down!” She kicks him in the shins. “Put me down right now!”

“Luuuucia!” He squeezes her hard one more time and then sets her back down.

“Ugh.” She brushes off her robes. “You almost broke my spine, idiot.”

“Sorry, I was just excited!” He pats her on the head. She still looks kind of grumpy. “I owe you one!”

“You do.” She agrees. “Now, get out. I have more experiments to do!”

He salutes and grabs the katana before she shoos him out of room. Galo grins and hugs the katana tight to his chest. He owes Lucia like a hundred favors for this.

**^^^**

Galo oversleeps the next morning.

He stayed up too late the night before, making sure his armor was polished and then practicing with his brand new katana. He stumbled out of bed almost an hour later than he usually did, the noise waking Lio who was still sleeping too. He and Lio scrambled to get ready and then ran out of the door, passing an Ignis who just shook his head and sighed.

“I told you to wake up on time!” Lio says as they jog through crowded streets up towards the palace.

“Well, you slept in too!” Galo argues, stumbling around a group of kids playing with a stray dog.

“I always sleep in during the winter.” Lio says. “I hate the cold.”

“It’s not even cold here!” Galo says because it’s not. It’s almost sweltering inside the barrier today. Galo feels like he’s cooking inside his armor as they run.

By the time they both skid to a stop in front of the palace, they’re both gasping for breath. The knights standing guard their both raise their eyebrows.

“Uh…” One of them says, tilting her head to the side. “Can I...help you?”

“Just...lemme catch my breath for a sec.” Galo huffs, wiping the sweat off his brow. “We...we have an audience with the king.”

“Really?” The other knight looks doubtful. “You shady people?”

“We are not shady!” Galo says, feeling mildly insulted. He doesn’t look shady, he looks great!

He took the time to prepare his armor with extra care the night before, trying to remember what Kray had taught him about armor maintenance. Border Rescue doesn’t really care about shiny armor, but Kray had to compete in a lot of tournaments where people noticed that kind of thing.

Lio is dressed as he always is; black ranger’s attire with lots of belts and a black cloak with a hood. He stands out like a blot of ink against the wide, white walkways leading up to the palace, dark and threatening. The vicious glare he’s directing at them probably isn’t helping matters.

“My name is Galo Thymos!” He straightens up and points at himself. “I’m a knight with a Border Rescue Squad! King Kray called us here.”

“Uh, both of you?” One of the knights says.

Lio continues to say nothing and look angry. Galo decides to answer for him “Yep! We fought the dragon together. We’re a team!”

“Huh.” The knights exchange a glance. “The captain did mention the dragon slayers were coming by today. I just thought they’d be more…”

“More what?” Lio has finally decided to contribute to the conversation.

“Nothing, nothing.” The knight waves her hand. “Follow me. I’ll take you in to see the king.”

“Thanks!” Galo grins.

“Mmmm.” Lio just huffs and Galo glances over at him, worried. Lio had gotten tenser every step they took closer to the palace. His shoulders are raised, his hands curled into fists, his pupils more slitted than they should be.

Galo wants to help him somehow, to take away some of the worry.

It’s dumb and Lio will probably slap him, but Galo reaches over and takes Lio’s hand. He’s wearing his gloves, like he always is, but he feels warm through them anyway.

He looks over at Galo, eyes wide with surprise and face flushed. He doesn’t look tense anymore. He looks...well, Galo doesn’t know what, but it’s better than it was before.

“Hey.” Says Galo and he tries to pitch his voice low so the knight leading them doesn’t overhear. “Are you okay?”

“I just…” Lio shakes his head. “I’ll be fine.” He pulls his hand back. Galo misses the warmth. “Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Galo says, but he knows that he won’t stop worrying. They walk in silence for a little bit, following the knight, and Galo peers around curiously. The palace is even bigger than he remembered.

“Did you live here?” Lio asks, looking straight ahead and not at Galo. “When you were Kray’s squire?”

“Nope.” Galo says. “Sir Kray lived in the barracks with the other knights! He didn’t want to be treated any differently, he said!”

Lio doesn’t answer, just nods.

“We did come here sometimes.” Galo adds. The silence makes him uncomfortable. “For fancy dinners and tournaments and stuff. I met his dad, the king before he was, once or twice. He was nice, but he always seemed really sad. He never looked straight at anyone or…”

“We’re here.” Their guide has stopped. She nods towards the doors. “I’ll go in and inform the king you’re here. Wait out here for a second and don’t wander off.”

As soon as the door shuts behind her with a bang, Lio looks from side to side, clearly considering running away. There are no guards by the doors. Kray has never kept them, telling Galo he didn’t need to.

“Hey.” Galo says and Lio looks towards him. His eyes are burning and his mouth is set. He looks like he’s preparing for battle. “Just...meet with him. Please?”

Lio’s mouth tightens. “Galo…”

“He’s a good person, Lio!” Galo says. “I promise he is.”

Lio huffs out a long sigh and folds his arms over his chest. “Fine.” He sighs. “I’ll meet with him.”

“Thanks Lio.” Galo says with a smile.

Lio leans closer to him, so close that no one else could hear the words he whispers into Galo’s ear. “You know that dragons don’t kill without reason. But if I find out that the king has a hand in making my people disappear…” He pauses, swallows hard, “I will burn his heart out.”

Before Galo can answer, the door shudders back open and the knight reemerges. “The king is ready for you.” She says and Galo nods, trying not to look as shaken as he feels. He understands why Lio feels the way he does, he really does, but…

The idea of anyone hurting Sir Kray is just too horrible to bear.

The knight heads back down the hallway, but leaves the doors open behind her. Through them, Galo can see the throne and Sir Kray.

“Well?” Lio raises an eyebrow at him. “This was your idea. Are we going in?”

Galo takes a breath, steadies himself, and nods. “Let’s go!” Lio’s threat isn’t going to matter because Sir Kray definitely didn’t do anything wrong. Lio will meet with him, see how reasonable he is and then they can all work together to find the missing dragons!

It will work. It has to.

Lio enters the throne room and Galo follows right behind him. It’s a huge room, lined with talll windows, but Kray is clearly visible at the other end.

King Kray Foresight is a massive man, with shoulders probably twice as broad as Galo’s are and thick arms that are folded behind his back. But his face is kind, an easy smile on it as they approach the throne.

Galo finds himself smiling without even meaning to as they cross the throne room. Lio nudges him with a sharp elbow.

“What?” Galo asks in a whisper.

“Stop smiling like that.” Lio hisses. “You look possessed.”

“Hey!” Galo splutters, completely forgetting to whisper. “I do not!”

Lio smirks at him, clearly ready to say more untrue and slanderous things, when Kray clears his throat and they both stiffen and face forward.

Kray is standing in front of them now, having walked over to meet them halfway. His face is placid beneath his heavy, golden crown. “I see you’re both in good spirits.” He says, voice warm.

“Your Highness.” Lio says and bows low.

“Hi Sir Kray!” Galo says, but he bows too.

Kray chuckles. “No need for any of that. From what I hear, I owe the both of you a great debt.”

They both straighten up.

“Just doing what we had to, Your Highness.” Lio murmurs, something Galo doesn’t recognize turning his voice cold. Galo looks sidelong at him.

Galo never thinks of Lio as small. How could he when Lio literally turns into a dragon almost as big as Galo’s whole house? But it’s more than that. Lio’s personality, the force of it, is big as well. He’s so much, more than anyone else Galo has ever known.

In front of Kray, he looks tiny.

“Slaying a dragon…” Kray reaches out and pats Galo on the shoulder with a gloved hand. “You’ve succeeded on your quest, Galo. I knew you could.”

“I...I’m sorry.” Galo says, looking away even though his heart flares with warmth at the praise. “But I couldn’t find your brother. I tried, but there was just no trace.”

“Ah, well.” Kray sighs. “I knew there was likely no chance. I expect he was killed by those filthy monsters long ago.”

“How do you know it was dragons that killed him?” Lio says.

“Where are you from, Lio Fotia?” Kray asks, voice a deep rumble.

Lio stares up at him, eyes narrowed. “Beyond the Scorched Mountains. Far from the Kingdom.”

Kray smiles. “I see. Well, you must have been fortunate enough to have escaped the terrible suffering the dragons inflicted upon us.” He puts a hand on Lio’s shoulder, the gesture almost paternal. “Let me explain. Dragons came into this Kingdom and stole away our prince with no clear provocation and, when we retaliated, they killed hundreds of us.”

“And you killed thousands of them!” Lio’s voice breaks in the middle and Galo sees Kray’s hand tighten on his shoulder.

“And how would you know that, boy?” Kray’s voice is still even, but there’s something...threatening in it now. Something that Galo has never heard before.

Lio’s eyes are burning. But he looks down, adjusts his gloves, and when he speaks again his voice is calmer. “I’ve heard people speak of it. They do, even beyond Promepolis.” He looks up again, “Surely the dragons also suffered.”

“Hey, hey!” Galo waves his hands. The tension is so thick that he swears he could almost see a haze of heat in the air being Kray and Lio. “Why are we dragging up ancient history? All this was settled forever ago!”

Galo stares a Lio for a long moment more before he looks to Galo and smiles. “Of course. You have both done the Kingdom a great service, one that I will not soon forget.” His hand drops from Lio’s shoulder.

“It was no trouble, Sir Kray!” Galo puts his hands on his hips and grins. “Lio and I can do anything when we work together!”

“Is that so?” Kray smiles. “Well, I’m glad you’ve found someone who can keep up with you, Galo.”

Galo nods enthusiastically and looks over at Lio. His face is still drawn in heavy, unhappy lines, his hands balled into fists by his side. But he meets Galo’s eyes and gives him a quick, jerky nod.

Galo wants to take his hand again, maybe even to pull him in for a hug, until his sharp lines go soft. He doesn’t, of course, because Kray is watching and because Lio probably wouldn’t like it. But still. He wants.

“Well,” Galo looks back at Kray and grins. “Thanks for seeing us, Sir Kray! But I think we need to get back to the Border Rescue Squad. They’re helpless without me.”

“Oh?” Kray looks amused. “Well, I’m glad my decision to have Sir Ignis complete your training as a knight was a good one. The Border Rescue Squad is a good fit for you, Galo.”

“Yeah.” Galo agrees. “I think so to.”

“Thank you for your service to the Kingdom of Promepolis.” Says Kray. “I know that I’ll be seeing great things from the both of you.”

Lio doesn’t look particularly pleased at that, but he follows when Galo turns and starts to head back towards the door. They’re nearly there when Kray speaks again.

“Oh, hold a moment.”

They both stop. Galo turns to look at him. Galo and Lio are standing between two windows, in a column of shadows. Kray is in one of light. He’s almost too blinding to look at like this, his polished silver armor and heavy golden crown gleaming, his white cape unfurled behind him.

“The dragon’s body?” He asks, voice pleasant and easy. “What did you do with it?”

Galo freezes. He knew he was forgetting something! He knew that there was something he couldn’t lie about and...

“It burned to ash.” Lio says without looking back. “There’s not anything left after a dragon dies.”

Kray’s smile widens just a bit. “Right you are, Lio Fotia.”

He doesn’t speak again as they finish crossing the hall and they leave, emerging into a lobby that is empty.

“He’s hiding something.” Lio snarls as soon as the massive doors slam shut behind them. He looks less than human right now, pupils slits, teeth sharp, shadow long. “I can tell, Galo.”

“Lio…” Galo tries, but Lio is already striding off, not towards the entrance of the palace but away, deeper inside.

“Lio, we really shouldn’t…” Galo tries again, but Lio doesn’t slow down. Galo jogs to catch up with him.

“Lio!” Galo tries to grab his arm, but Lio shakes him off. “Just slow down!”

Lio stops walking so abruptly that Galo almost bowls him over. His eyes are seething, his teeth are jagged. “You can leave, Galo.” He grits out. “I can do this alone.”

Galo puts his hands on both of Lio’s shoulders and turns him so they’re facing each other, forcing him to meet Galo’s eyes. “We’re a team, Lio.” Galo says, stubborn. “I’m not going anywhere!”

“Galo…” There’s something soft in Lio’s eyes for a moment, but then he nods sharply and it’s gone. “Okay.” He says. “Does this place have a dungeon?”

“Um, yes.” Galo admits, taking his hands off of Lio’s shoulders.

“Where?”

“Er…” Galo tilts his head, trying to remember. Lio’s mad scramble from the throne room left him a bit turned around. He looks around, trying to place where they are. “This way?” He points down the hallway.

Lio looks doubtful. “Are you sure?”

“Sure-ish?” Galo says with a shrug.

“Fine,” Lio says. “Just...lead the way.”

They don’t speak as Galo leads a (slightly winding) path towards the dungeon. The hallways of the palace are empty, but Galo isn’t surprised. Kray Foresight has never really had a royal court the way his predecessors have, preferring to rule alone. The only people who really go into the palace are the Court Mages and they…

“Galo?” Galo whirls around at a familiar voice.

“Heris!” Galo says. She looks like Aina, but also not. Her clothes are, obviously, quite different. Heris is dressed in the clean white robes of a Court Mage and wears glasses. Her hair is different too, shorter and a shade or two darker. But their eyes are the same color and shape and have the same warmth.

“Galo.” She looks confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry!” He rubs the back of his neck with a hand. “I wanted to show Lio some of my old hangout spots in the palace and I got a bit lost!”

He’s lying. Galo was never allowed in the palace, not really. When Kray came up here, to see his father and brother or to perform royal duties, he left Galo back the barracks. Galo can count the times that he’s been inside of the palace on one hand, even counting their audience today.

But he’s pretty sure that Heris doesn’t know that.

They may have the same eyes, but Heris doesn’t know him like Aina does. Galo is a bad liar, but maybe Heris can’t tell. He hopes she can’t, at least.

She tilts her head a little and smiles. “Well, I think you’re turned around, Galo.” She says. “The only things beneath the palace are the laboratories and the dungeons. Not really places that you would want to show your friend.”

Galo laughs and hopes that it doesn’t sound as fake as it feels. “Right! Sorry, Heris. We’ll get out of here!”

She nods. “I’ll see you later. Tell Aina I said I’ll be home late tonight, if you see her.” She turns away and starts back down the hallway.

“Of course!” Galo calls after her. “C’mon Lio, let’s get going!”

“Wait.” Lio says and Galo wants to cry. They were getting away with it! Why is Lio making it worse?

“Yes?” Heris glances over her shoulders. Her glasses glare white. Galo can’t see her eyes anymore.

“You’re a Court Magician here, right?” Lio asks.

Heris looks a bit confused, but answers. “Yes, of course.”

“Aina said you could explain things to me.” Lio says. “The Barrier. Can you tell me how it works?”

“That’s a Promepolis secret.” She answers promptly. “Information like that is too dangerous for people to know.”

“Of course.” Lio dips his head. “I’m not asking for all of the secrets of how it works. But can you tell me what it’s powered by?”

“Powered?” Her shoulders tense, her expression tightens.

“Yes.” Lio says and he’s like he was when he was facing Kray again, remote and furious and beyond Galo’s reach. “What kind of power do you have that can keep everything out? What kind of power changes the seasons themselves?”

“I…” Heris folds her arms. “I don’t…”

A thudding sound interrupts them and the three of them look over to see a large group of people rounding the corner and heading down the hallway.

“Ah, ‘scues me, Court Mage.” The man in front is hulking with red eyes and teeth that are strangely sharp. Galo doesn’t recognize the polished black armor that he’s wearing or the symbol on it. “Got some prisoners here.”

“Prisoners?” Galo frowns. Back when he was a squire, he and Kray patrolled the Kingdom pretty frequently. They only took prisoners to the palace who had done terrible things, like murdering someone. It was rare they would have one in a day, let alone a whole group of them.

“Out of the way, knight.” The man says the last word like its an insult. “Don’t question the King’s Guards.”

“King’s...Guards?” Galo repeats. Kray had always said that he didn’t need guards…

More people in black armor troop past, but they’re holding people, dragging them...They don’t look like any prisoners that Galo has ever seen. They’re young children, crying and wiping at scraped faces, and old people who are hunched and stooped, and families trying desperately not to be separated.

“Who…” He stops, swallows down a rising wave of fear. “Who are these people?

“Galo, let it go.” Heris says, putting a hand on his arm.

But Galo takes a step towards the man with the jagged teeth and puts a hand on the sword at his hip. “Who are they?” He demands.

“Prisoners.” The man grunts. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Prisoners?” Lio echoes faintly and his voice is devastated.

“Come on, you.” Another of the King’s Guard huffs, dragging along a man with two-toned hair behind him. “Quit struggling.” The man has blood on his face and something trailing behind him, something like…

Wings.

This man has crumpled bat-like wings, Galo realized with sudden, dawning horror. This man is like Lio, a dragon.

Galo looks at Lio. His pupils are slits, his breathing a harsh, uneven rhythm.

“Kray…” He grits, low and angry and barely sound.

“Lio…” Galo reaches out, tries to touch him.

“Kray Foresight!” He roars and his whole form goes hazy, like Galo is looking at him through a heat haze.

Galo reaches out again, arm outstretched even though he knows he might not reach Lio at all. But he has to try. It’s Lio, so he can’t stop trying even if it’s useless.

“Lio!” He shouts.

And then the world explodes in a whirl of screaming, wings, and flame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter one this time~ 
> 
> sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger! should have the next bit posted in about two weeks again...we're at about the halfway point now
> 
> thanks for sticking with me :)


	4. Lio Fotia - II

Lio’s first memory is of his feet against stone.

He remembers looking down to see his bare feet, paler than the belly of a dead fish, shocking against the black of the stone. He curled his toes up, trying to get even some small part of himself away from the wet and cold of the stone.

But he couldn’t do that. He had to keep walking. He doesn’t remember why, now.

In the memory, he kept walking. His feet ached, half agonizing and half numb. The cold lanced him like a blade, dug up under his skin and lingered deep in his flesh.

He wonders sometimes if that’s why he burns so very bright; to rid the last remnants of cold that still cling to his bones.

It’s the worst pain he can remember. Even more than being stabbed, being shot by arrows, being cursed. There’s nothing in his life that has ever compared to the feeling of that stone under his feet, cold enough to settle in him like a sickness he could never quite cure.

But somehow this, watching a line of people he was supposed to protect be dragged past him, hurts more. Lio’s can’t feel his body, is suddenly unaware of his hands and feet, fingers and toes.

Everything narrows down to a single point and, for a moment, all he can hear is his shuddering breathing.

In.

Out.

There is blood in Guiera’s hair.

In.

A girl is clutching a ragged-looking doll.

Out.

One of the guards is laughing.

In.

Lio swore to protect these people.

Out.

He _promised_.

In.

He lied.

Galo is yelling something, reaching out towards him, but Lio doesn’t even think about him. He can’t think about anything. Anything except the flame in his chest that is blazing hot and hotter still.

“Kray…” He growls. “Kray Foresight!”

His people...he needs to get them away, he needs to get them safe where no one can find them, he needs the power to save them.

He feels himself transform, the change racing through his body like a flame devouring a dry twig. He turns to the people holding his friends, his family, and spits out a gout of fire that thrums with color and power. His fire is blazing in his chest, alive and bright with rage.

He will get his people out, he doesn’t care what it costs. Dragons don’t kill without reason, but Lio has decided that there is reason enough, now.

He lunges towards the guards, fangs bared and fire blazing.

A few have weapons, dull swords that don’t break his skin and arrows that clatter uselessly off his scales. Those with magic try to hit him as well, but their spells hit sing off his skin and dissipate. Idiots. Don’t they know he’s a dragon? Do they really expect their feeble weapons to impact him?

Lio opens his mouth and aims a thick tongue of flame towards the guards holding his people.

The flames spark off of their polished armor strangely, gouts of steam rising from the places where it strikes the dark metal. It should hurt them, should bring down anyone other than a dragon. But the King’s Guard manage to withstand his flames, racing after him with weapons and hands raised.

Fools. Flames have never been his only weapon.

Lio swipes at him with his claws and sends them all flying against the walls. The sharpness of his claws is blunted by their thick armor, but they still hit the walls hard enough that more than one slumps down and doesn’t get back up.

The hallway trembles, a sudden quake shuddering through the castle. It knocks Lio off his feet for a moment, fire flickering and vision blurring.

It takes a moment for him to regain his footing, shaking his wide head to clear the sudden haziness. And that’s when Lio notices that his people are nowhere to be seen. The only people left in the hallway are him, a few guards lying on the ground and Galo.

Idiot! He took his eyes off of them, too focused on the sudden quake and the strange King’s Guard who refused to burn like they were supposed to.

It doesn’t matter. They can’t have gotten far.

“Lio, wait!” Galo shouts, a hand outstretched, but Lio ignores it and slams into the wall of the castle, fire and muscle breaking through the clean, white wall.

Kray and his cursed kingdom have taken Lio’s people. And Lio is going to get them back.

He wheels around as soon as he’s free of the wall, ignoring screams from far below as he passes, and breathes a gout of multicolored flame at the palace. It won’t hurt his people, he’s careful of that even now, but the knights guarding this place can burn for all he cares.

The fire is in more than just his chest now. It feels like it’s in the air around him, air that shimmers with heat, and in the ground, which riles and rumbles as he passes. He thinks he feels his fire shuddering beneath the earth itself, alive with vicious anger.

Lio’s fire is raking through Promepolis. Flames can take it. The flames can have this cursed place, can burn it down to ash for all Lio cares.

This Kingdom is cursed, cursed, cursed and Lio doesn’t care what it takes to save his people anymore, doesn’t care, he _can’t_ care…

He dives back towards the center of the palace. Sentries on the parapets fire arrows at him. They burn up, wooden shafts catching fire before they reach his skin. He can hear guard shouting, but he doesn’t bother trying to make out what they’re saying. Flames take them. Flames take them all.

The ceiling of the throne room is easy enough to scrabble through with desperate claws and fire. It falls away in chunks and pieces, stone buckling under Lio’s furious assault. This is the heart of it, the root of everything that is wrong.

“Kray Foresight!” He roars in a voice that isn’t even a little bit human. “I’ll never forgive you!”

The ceiling breaks open. The sunlight is blazing behind Lio, but his massive bulk casts a shadow over everything in the hall. Kray is standing there, back straight and chin tilted up, right in the middle of the shadow Lio casts. His armor gleams, polished silver and impeccably clean. Lio wants to burn it until it’s black.

“Mister Fotia!” Kray shouts. “Kindly stop trying to light my palace on fire!”

Lio doesn’t bother with words. He leans over Kray and roars, the sound guttural and raw. He’s going to burn this man who killed his people and kidnapped his kin. He is going to burn him until there is nothing left.

Kray raises his hands, his smile manic and his eyes wide, but before Lio can engulf him in flames, the doors of the throne room are thrown open and he sees more men in black armor that gleams dully, like the carapace of some great bug. They have their hands raised, coronas of white magic hovering. Lio sneers at them, exposing all of his teeth.

“Begone!” He roars. A few flinch and one or two actually turn to flee, but the majority stand their ground and fire off bolts of crackling magic at him.

He doesn’t bother to dodge. It’s just weak human magic, nothing that could hurt someone like him.

The bolts hit and Lio’s body buckles and jerks without his permission. This magic...it’s not like magic they hit him with in the hall. It’s strong and goes deep, stealing his fire and replacing it with cold.

Lio writhes, flame coming to his skin in gouts of pink and purple and blue. The ice around him melts, just enough for him to slip through, spread his wings and throw himself into the sky.

His flies higher, trying to avoid the spells, zipping towards him like arrows coated in ice.

Another shard of ice hits him in one wing and it spreads, weighing him down even as he tries to beat his wings. It spreads faster as he flies higher, trying to regain his balance.

The world is narrowing again, further and further, until it’s completely gone.

Another spell hits him square in the chest.

Lio falls.

* * *

_Lio’s second memory is of his feet against hot earth._

_He’s running this time, running because what’s ahead has to be better than what’s behind him. But he’s so tired and his feet hurt so much because he’s been running for so long._

_He starts to falter, steps getting slower and breathing getting harder. He can hear distant shouting but as he slows it gets closer…_

_“Hurry up!” A voice he doesn’t know urges him. He looks up to see an old woman he doesn’t know running beside him. “Don’t let them catch you!”_

_“I’m so tired…” He wheezes. “Grandma, I can’t run anymore.”_

_“Grandma!” She cackles out a laugh. “I’m no one’s grandma, young man.” She looks at him closer. “You’re...one of us, aren’t you?”_

_“One...of...who?” Each word is an effort. Her legs are longer and hard to keep up with and talking takes what little breath he has and wastes it. Lio is sure she is wrong, anyway. He has never been one of something, not ever._

_He is Lio of nowhere and nothing, Lio of being chased away from storefronts by angry men with brooms, Lio of being shooed away from other children by disapproving mothers who saw his bare feet and dirty hands._

_“Think of your fire, boy.” The woman running beside him says. “I can sense it in you._

_“My...fire?” There is fire behind him. Fire and ice and other things they’re running from. Lio wants to leave it all behind._

_“Let it carry you.” She says. “Once you find it.”_

_He stumbles then, falls to his knees, and she grabs his hand to pull him along. His feet are bleeding, he can’t breathe._

_“How?” He pants, desperate. “How do...I find...it?”_

_“Anyone can find their fire.” She says. “If they pay enough attention.”_

_He feels nothing like fire in him, nothing like warmth. His body is empty, just as cold as it was against the black stone…_

_“Close your eyes.” The woman says, voice barely audible over the shouting and the clashing of swords and claws all around them. “It’s there, I promise.”_

_Lio closes his eyes even as he runs, tries to feel for something that might be warmth._

_And...there it is in his chest._

_Just the faintest spark._

* * *

Lio gasps awake, hand clutching clutching his chest.

His fire is there, flickering so faintly that it’s barely burning at all. But it’s there, so he’s alive. He’s alive and he…

Lio looks up and sees blurry figures leaning over him, bright silver of their armor juxtaposed against a sooty grey sky.

“Over here!” He hears a voice, muffled but audible, call out from above him. “It’s Lio!”

Lio’s whole body aches. He’s in his human form, but only partially. He can still feel his wings, crumpled as they are, against his back, and the familiar weight of his horns. He’s willing to bet his teeth are sharp and his eyes are slit-pupiled.

“Lio, can you hear me?” He groans, blinks, and tries to will the world into focus.

He feels arms on his hands, his legs.

“Lio?” The voice is saying his name and he’s trying to pay attention, but his flame is barely embers and his whole body is made of ice and pain.

The world fades into shades of blue and grey and black.

* * *

_“You know, your Squad isn’t exactly what I expected.” Lio tells Galo absently._

_They’re perched together on the roof of the Border Rescue station, watching as the sun sets in the distance. The rest of the Squad is still inside finishing dinner, but Galo had insisted Lio come and watch the sunset with him._

_Lio is finding himself increasingly weak to Galo’s whims. He has resolutely not been thinking about what that is._

_“Well, we’re not exactly normal for a bunch of knights, I guess.” Galo shrugs. In a rare instance, he’s not wearing his armor. Instead, he’s dressed in a dark shirt and loose pants. He looks softer like this, relaxed. “We’re kinda what you’d call the weirdo squad.”_

_Lio’s laugh is startled out of him. “The weirdo squad?”_

_“Yeah!” Galo looks almost proud of the fact. “We’ve got Lucia, who still looks like she’s a kid because some spell she was experimenting with backfired. And there’s Vayrs who’s got giant blood so he’s super strong.” He’s started to tick them off on his fingers, going through all of his squad members. “And then Remi was kicked out of the court mages because he was doing some super shady magic research to turn his girlfriend back into a human-”_

_“_ Back _?” Lio splutters. “What is she now?”_

_“Oh, a lizard.” Galo says._

_“A lizard?” Lio repeats, completely nonplussed._

_“Yeah.” Galo says with a shrug. “But she’s human-sized, so it’s not that weird.”_

_“Galo, I have so many questions. And, coming from someone who turns into a giant lizard-adjacent creature on the regular, I can tell you that it is_ so weird _.”_

_“Well, he can’t undo the curse so they’re just dealing with it.” Galo says. “I don’t know. They’re happy together.”_

_“Huh.” Lio says faintly. He has so many questions._

_“Yeah.” Galo nods as if that’s the end of it, which Lio definitely doesn’t think it is. “And then the Captain was almost stripped of his knighthood for taking bribes a long time ago. And everyone thinks that Aina was only made a knight because of her sister’s position.”_

_Lio scoffs. “That’s stupid. She’s the only one of you who’s actually competent.”_

_“Right?” Galo turns to him with bright, passionate eyes, leaning in. “She’s so good! Anyone who thinks she doesn’t deserve to be a knight is stupid.”_

_Lio shoves him away. “I agree, idiot.” He says. “You don’t need to convince me.”_

_Galo laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “Right, sorry. I’m just used to people being weird about our squad.” He drops his hand and smiles. “I’m used to protecting everyone.”_

_“I understand.” Lio says. “It’s important to protect family.”_

_“They are my family.” Galo says. “I grew up in orphanages until Sir Kray agreed to train me. So the Squad and Sir Kray are the only family I ever had. I never knew my blood family.” He hunches forward a bit, staring out at the sinking sun. “They died in the war. Or, at least, that’s what everyone told me.”_

_“We have that in common.” Lio looks at him sidelong. In the thick sunset glow, Galo looks like something gilded, sunlight outlining his features. Lio wants to touch him. He doesn’t._

_“Oh?” Galo tilts his head._

_Lio nods. “I never knew my family. I had to make my own.” He smiles faintly. “I love them, though. Just as much as I think I’d love a family tied to me by blood.”_

_“And that’s why you’ve gotta protect them.” Galo says. It isn’t a question and Lio appreciates that more than he knows how to say._

_“I’m the only one who can.” Lio says. A thin gust of wind meanders past, tugging at his hair. It’s warm and smells like smoke. It makes Lio drowsy, reminds of times sleeping curled up next to his Grandma all those years ago._

_“I’ll help.” Galo says. “If you want.”_

_“Galo…” Lio sighs. “It’s not your fight.”_

_“But I wanna fight it.” Galo says with a smile. “And if you asked them, I know the rest of the Squad would help you too.”_

_In the distance, the sun slides behind the horizon and takes the last rays of sunlight with it._

* * *

When Lio wakes next, his first view is of a low stone ceiling. He narrows his eyes, unsure if it is real or not. Eventually, he decides that it doesn’t matter.

But, wait...what building does this possibly fake stone ceiling belong to? Where is he?

“Kray…” Lio looks around, groggy but terrified. “The knights…” Where are they, the people with the spells that snatch the warmth from him more effectively than even the snow does.

“Calm down, kid.” A voice he recognizes. His eyes catch on the source, standing by the door with a frown on his face. Captain Ignis, looking banged up, but ultimately unharmed. “No one followed us back here.”

“They probably think they killed you, anyway.” Another voice - Aina - adds. She’s closer to him, hovering right by where he’s laying. There’s a thin scratch on her cheek, still bleeding sluggishly.

Lio blinks a few times, willing the world to start making sense. He’s lying down on a couch in the familiar base of the Border Rescue Patrol. Most of the squad is standing around, either looking at him or looking at him while pretending they aren’t.

“They almost did kill him!” Lucia shouts from the kitchen. There’s a smell coming from in there that Lio doesn’t trust, something that smells suspiciously like the time he set a toad on fire when he was a kid.

It wasn’t his fault. The toad had ambushed him.

Lio tries to lever himself upright, but almost falls off the couch. His head aches and his whole body feels like ice.

“Come on.” Aina helps him sit up. Her hands feel uncomfortably warm against his skin. That probably isn’t a good sign.

She is careful of his wings, her hands deliberately not touching them.

Oh, his wings are still out. His wings are out and Aina can see them, everyone can see them, can see that he’s not human…

He expects the capable fighters of Galo’s squad to leap into action, to bind his hands and stab his wings flat. He’s seen it before, when he was much younger, seen weakened dragons taken down in seconds by knights much less skilled than the Rescue Squad. With the condition Lio is in now, even by himself Galo could probably...

Wait...Galo. He looks around. Remi and Vayrs are standing by the door, clearly there to keep him from fleeing, and Ignis is leaning up near the hearth. Aina is sitting beside him and Lucia is in the kitchen, but where’s…

“Where’s Galo?” He asks and his voice sounds rough even to his own ears.

Aina’s hands are laying across her lap. They curl into fists.

“We don’t know.” Her voice is brittle.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Lio snaps.

“She means that the last time we saw Galo he was with you.” Remi’s voice is sharp. “You were the last one of us to see him.”

Lio blinks. His memories are hazy - drenched in smoke and flame and rage. But when he focuses he can remember what happened.

He swallows and looks away. “I…the last I saw he was some Knights who worked for Kray. They called themselves the King’s Guard.” The words taste like bile on his tongue. He wants to go back to the palace, to rip the rest down and find his people and Galo and bring them all home. And after he does that, he wants to find Kray Foresight and make him pay.

“The King’s Guard?” Aina’s eyes are wide with surprise. “Then he’s safe?”

A low growl rumbles in Lio’s chest without his permission. “Kray Foresight.” He spits the words. “Is a monster. No one is safe with him.”

“What are you talking about?” Vayrs sounds nonplussed.

“I knew he couldn’t be trusted. I _knew_ but Galo was so sure, I…” He cuts himself off with sharp shake of his head and meets Vayrs’s eyes. “He took my people. He took them prisoner for no reason.”

“Your people?” Vayrs echoed.

Lio lets his gaze slide away. Unlike Kray and his Guard, the Rescue Squad doesn’t seem ready to attack him. But, still, trusting the truth of his people to them…

“You have to be honest with us.” Ignis says. “We can’t do anything until we know the truth, Lio.”

Lio’s gaze flicks to meet Ignis’s. The moment stretches long and then longer as Lio glares at Ignis and weighs his options

There are many reasons to distrust this man, all of these people. They are human and knights beside, dedicated to protecting this kingdom from creatures like him.

But they had saved him - picked him up off the ground and brought him some place safe. His wings are unchained, his hands left free. They are trusting him.

He owes them something in return. Lio has never liked to let his debts go unpaid.

Hopefully the truth will be sufficient.

He folds his hands and looks down at them. His knuckles are dark with bruises, standing out livid and angry against his pale skin.

“I’m a dragon.” He sighs, truth coming from him in an exhale. “Which I’m sure you’ve figured out by now.”

“You didn’t appear to be a dragon when we first met you.” Remi says. “Can you transform in a fully human shape, then?”

Lio nods, runs a thumb along the bruises coloring his hand. “I’m not special. All dragons possess forms like yours. My other form - the fully dragon one - is the rarer thing.”

“So the Mad Black Dragon Galo was sent to kill…” Aina says.

“Me.” Lio confirms with a nod. “Though the Mad part isn’t exactly accurate.”

From the kitchen, Lucia cackles. “Only Galo! Kray sent him to slay a dragon and instead he seduced one!”

“He didn’t _seduce_ me!” Lio snaps, voice breaking high on the word seduce.

“But he did know you were a dragon?” Ignis asks. It doesn’t really sound like a question, though.

Lio, after a moment of hesitation, nods. “But he isn’t responsible for…” He trails off, waves a hand towards the smoldering palace in the distance.

“What _is_ responsible for that?” Vayrs says. One of his hands is resting on the battleaxe strapped to his side.

Lio takes a deep breath, tries to keep from going incandescent with rage again. “For years, dragons have been disappearing. My people have been disappearing. I came to Promepolis to find them.” He grits his teeth, forces himself to stay calm even as the image of his people in chains burns at him. “I found them.”

“Wait,” Lucia sticks her head out of the kitchen again. “Did the King have them?”

“His guard.” Lio says stiffly. “They had them chained. I…” He closes his eyes for a second, trying desperately to maintain his calm. These people are helping him. They didn’t do this. The person who did this is…

“Kray Foresight.” Lio spat. “This is all down to him.”

“Why?” Aina sounds horrified. “Why would the King take them?”

“I don’t care!” Lio snaps. “I don’t care why, I just…” His hands curl into fists so hard it hurts. “I need to get them away from him.”

Aina has her mouth open to respond when a tremor rushes up through the ground. The whole station seems to shudder. Lio hears the rattling noise of things falling off of shelves in the kitchen and a few things shattering as they hit the ground.

And, as soon as it began, it stops. The station seems strangely still in its wake.

“Everyone okay?” Ignis asks and all of them make noises of assent.

“Again…” Lucia’s voice hisses from the kitchen. “That the fourth one today.”

Lio curses under his breath, trying to ease the shudders in his body caused by the quake. “Are these normal?” He’s experienced more than a few since coming here. Small things that nonetheless leave him a bit shaken up.

“Didn’t used to be!” Lucia says. “But in the last few weeks in particular…”

“Something is wrong with Promepolis.” Remi says grimly. There’s mud flecked on his glasses.

“Wrong?” Lio echoes.

“The ground is shaking and, for the last few months, the air has been getting warmer.” He folds his arms. “And it’s all centered on the palace. Something is happening...something that might put the whole Kingdom in danger.” He meets Lio’s eyes. “I have the feeling it had something to do with your missing people.”

Shaking ground, stolen dragons, heat...there’s something about it all that makes Lio feel like he’s forgetting something, an annoyance that distracts him like a blister on his heel.

“We need to investigate!” Lucia crows.

“No, we need a plan.” Varys says.

“Before we can plan, we need more information.” Remi says.

“Who care about information!” Aina says. “My sister and Galo are both potentially in danger, we need to get to the Palace right now!”

Ignis cuts across the din. “Come with me, all of you.”

Lio gets to his feet and only sways a little before he manages to get his bearings. The normally cozy rescue station seems cold and lifeless, light coming in from the windows hazy and grey, likely filtering through smoke and ash. The grate is empty. Lio tries not to shiver as he follows the rest of the Squad down into the kitchen.

It’s messy in the wake of the tremors, a few broken pieces of glass scattered on the floor. They catch the light, glittering like unmelted ice. Lio does his best not to shiver and picks his way over them.

The kitchen is a cramped room, with walls made of red brick and a long table made of dark wood in the middle of the room. The chairs have high backs, the sort that won’t be comfortable for a person who, like Lio, currently has wings.

He wants to make himself look fully human, or at least put his wings away, but his fire is barely a flicker in his chest. He sighs and stretches his wings - banged up and achy, but not broken - and folds them against his back.

Lucia turns away from whatever she’s been poking at on the stove and makes a noise that sounds like a kettle releasing steam.

“Tell me!” She demands, scrambling over to him. “Your wings - are they an automatic reflex or do you control them? No wait, don’t tell me, do they respond to stimuli without your control?”

She reaches out, clearly intending to touch, and Lio snarls at her - literally snarls with his teeth bared and everything - in an embarrassing loss of control.

“Ooo!” She leans closer to him like a crazy person and gazes at his bared teeth. “So sharp!”

“Get your hands out of the dragon’s mouth, Lucia!” Remi chides.

“Lio.” Lio snaps, automatic and almost catching Lucia’s fingers with sharp canines.

Remi nods. “Of course. Get your hands out of Lio’s mouth.”

“Fine, fine.” Lucia pouts, but she folds her arms and rocks back on her heels. “I have so many questions for you, Lio Fotia.” Her eyes are gleaming. Lio feels mildly terrified.

“Sit down, Lucia.” Ignis says.

Lucia drops into the nearest chair. “Sorry, Captain.”

“Lio, you can sit here.” Aina tells Lio and pulls out the chair next to hers.

“Thanks.” He says and sits. The chair, he knows from the dinners they’ve had there, is usually the one that belongs to Galo.

“The fire was contained to the Palace and surrounding areas.” Ignis says. “And the King’s Guard-”

“Which are news to me.” Aina interjects.

“They have locked down that part of the city.” Ignis folds his arms. “It goes against all good strategy to do what they’re doing. Something is wrong.”

“We need to figure out what.” Remi insists. “Captain, I know that going against the orders of King isn't exactly...advisable. But if we don't, I don't know what might happen."

"Lio?" Ignis is looking at him. "What do you think?" 

“You’d have to be insane to listen to me.” Lio scoffs and wishes that his voice didn’t sound so unsteady, so weak.

He’s still so damn cold.

Ignis looks at him with heavy eyes. “Son.” He says. “You have to be a little insane to do the kind of work that we do.”

“Yeah, Lio!” Lucia grins with all of her teeth. “A dragon isn’t the strangest thing we’ve worked with, c’mon! We’ve worked with Galo - you can’t possibly be worse!”

“I have to get back to the palace.” He says, looking down and adjusting his gloves so he has an excuse not to look any of them in the eye. He, horrifyingly enough, feels like he might start crying if he does.

“The place we just got you away from?” Aina says flatly.

“Yes.” Lio flips his gloved hand over, tugs at the seam.

“The palace you tried to burn down?”

“That’s the one.”

“That won’t be easy.” Varys says.

“No.” Lio agrees. “But it’s where all of this centered - my missing people, whatever is causing the ground to shake, Galo.” He takes a breath and looks up, meeting their eyes. “I need to go back.”

Ignis folds his arms. “We’re going with you.”

“Of course!” Aina says. “My sister is in that palace too...I need to make sure she’s okay.”

Lio bites his lip and looks away. He saw Aina’s sister, didn’t he. She refused to tell him about the wall. She saw the dragons being kept prisoner and there was no surprise on her face…

“Come on, then.” Lio says, voice rough. Aina’s sister can wait. “I have a friend in the city. His place is closer to the palace...we can plan our attack there.”

Meis’s bar is about to get more customers than it has ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry about the wait on this...i work for my state health department and, as im sure you can imagine, the last few months have been a tad busy for me, haha
> 
> Can’t say when the last two chapters of this will be out (i think six is what we’ll land on), but i always finish my stories, global pandemic or no! 
> 
> Stay safe out there and thank you all for your patience and support :)

**Author's Note:**

> Galo is canonically a weeabo and i dont think we appreciate that enough 
> 
> updates on this should be around every two weeks or so...i have this thing outlined and everything, should be between 4 - 6 chapters 
> 
> thanks for reading!


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